There are some people who have a very warped view of the police. That view may have been formed by a bad experience they have had with a cop or by someone else’s bad experience they’ve heard about that has been passed on from mouth to mouth. More often than not, that warped view has been formed by media reports of alleged police misconduct, of which there are many on TV and in the press. Here is a case in point.
As all of you must know, Houston Press Hair Balls is my favorite source for a humorous take on the news. In Friday’s edition there was a report on a man, Marcus Dise, who was suing the Houston Police Department because, according to him, a couple of HPD officers beat him up for videotaping them. Here is Dise’s story as reported by Hair Balls:
__Dise is suing the City of Houston and the two officers in Houston federal court. He claims that he was right outside the Roxy nightclub on West Alabama a little before 2 a.m. in August 2008 videotaping a friend's rap video when a fight broke out in the parking garage. Dise was recording the brawl when two officers showed up and began breaking it up. Dise claims that a bystander told the police that they were using too much force to break up the fight, to which one of the officers allegedly responded by hitting the man in the face, saying "It's HPD, we do what we want."
__He claims that after the officer hit the bystander, he and the man tried to walk away from the officers, but one of the cops kept coming at them, punching the bystander again in the face. When Dise allegedly tried to step in between the two, the officer supposedly hit Dise on the head. Dise says that as he put his hands in the air to shield himself, crying, "What did I do?" the officer put him in a headlock.
__It was about then, Dise claims, that the other officer rushed over, and together with his partner, allegedly handcuffed Dise, threw him on the ground and repeatedly kicked him for about two minutes. Dise says the officers then picked him up and dragged him inside the club and down to the basement. There, according to the lawsuit, the officers removed the handcuffs, beat him in the face, and then put the cuffs back on. Next, Dise says the two policemen took him to a security room inside the club, covered up the security camera, and beat him some more. Eventually, Dise was taken to jail.
Hair Balls noted "that HPD has conducted an internal investigation into the claims against the two officers, and the allegations were not sustained." That did not satisfy J. Stringer, a reader who made the following comments about Dise’s version of the event. Note that he relies on links to fellow cop-hater Carlos Miller to authenticate his comments:
___This is not surprising ... this sort of thing: people being assaulted by police for catching them on video is becoming an epidemic in the U.S.
__Police more and more do not being held accountable for their actions, their lies & trumphed up charges (ie: public disturbance, resisting arrest; really contempt of cop) cases like this can't top instant replay.
__There's a lot more examples of this at: http://carlosmiller.com/
__Note it's not my site, person running it was assaulted in pretty much the same way as Dise was...
I could not resist replying to his attack on the police. Here is my response:
__Yes Mr. Stringer, there are bad cops, but you sound like nothing more than a cop-hater.
__I will never defend bad policing. However, the Dise case looks like a typical lawsuit against the police embilished by a lying lawyer. The description of Dise's mistreatment - the length of time it took and the severity of it - are unbelievable and appear to be the figment of a lawyers imagination.
__There are always two sides to every controversy. I know that HPD would take a complaint like this very seriously and would not witewash it.
Here is Stringer’s absurd reply to my comments:
__Cop Hater? Sorry, but I hate no one. The police more and more are becoming militarized, more tazers, more high power weapons being carried, more swat teams & a lot less tolerance for the common folk to protect themselves(we seems to do okay here in Texas, but elsewhere in the U.S. it is a VERY different story)...read a little more for yourself. The Thin Blue Line is more often concerned for its own that for the rest of us, despite the best efforts of good officers who are becoming fewer and fewer each year.
__We are being treated like serfs & a source of revenue generation and less like like the people that for so many years good officers were sworn to "serve & protect".
__In certain parts of the country people are getting harassed just for taking a picture near an airport or a transit center (something that is actively being promoted by homeland security - see link: http://carlosmiller.com/2010/09/07/tsa-publishes-new-posters-depicting-photographers-as-terrorists/
And here is my reply to those comments:
__Mr. Stringer, you and I must be living in two different worlds. You have a very warped view of the police.
__There are several hundred-thousand law enforcement officers in the U.S. Why so many? Because there are many more criminals. Why do we have SWAT units? Because many of those criminals are well armed and very dangerous. With so many law enforcement officers, there are bound to be some bad apples in the bunch. And those are the ones that the media concentrates on.
__It takes all those officers to protect you - yes you - and the rest of us law-abiding citizens. I am sure that the overwhelming majority of Americans support their local police and do not share your distorted views of an out-of-control army of police.
Stringer then comes back at me:
__No we live in the same world - it amazes me when you disagree with someone, the different world thing comes up ... I thought like you for a very very long time & really did believe what you state.
__My opinions changed when I started noticing more and more reporting in the press about the police assultonb people for little or no provocation ... Remember the incident with he Chinese consulate in Montrose? a consulate official was assaulted by the police because he didn't pull over right away & pulled into the consulate garage.
__Police have been doing this sort of thing more frequently in recent years, with the violence in police works is slowly escalating, many times starting over a traffic stop where someone didn't comply fast enough or asked a question or took a photo.
__Are there good police of there who conduct their duties with professionalism and discretion want to protect us? Yes! We just have less of them than we used to.
Because there is no way to convince Stringer that he is full of shit, I responded with some final comments:
__Mr. Stringer, it is very gracious of you to acknowledge that there are actually some good cops out there somewhere. However, when it comes to the rest of your comments - I do not know of any other way to put it - you are full of shit!
__If the media would concentrate on the good and heroic deeds performed by police officers every minute of every day, may be you would change your tune.
__Since disagreeing with you is like arguing with a rock, I will not respond to any more of your absurd comments, should you choose to make them.
Monday, September 13, 2010
SICK AND TIRED OF THE WAY SHE COOKED HIS EGGS
My eggs are always cooked right. That’s because I cook them myself.
SOME PEOPLE TAKE BRUCH WAY TOO SERIOUSLY
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 11, 2010
Stanley Neace takes his brunch way too seriously. He was pissed because his wife didn’t cook the eggs properly a little before noon today. So he shotgunned her. Then four other people. Then himself.
Stanley Neace, 47, and five other people died in two mobile homes in Jackson, Kentucky shortly before noon today.
Neace’s wife left the mobile home and went to a neighbor after her husband went stupid on her over the eggs. He followed, with a shotgun. He killed his wife, his wife’s daughter and three witnesses though he didn’t kill a young girl who was there.
He went back to his own house and killed himself on the porch as the cops arrived.
Clicking here will link to a YahooNews story on this subject.
SOME PEOPLE TAKE BRUCH WAY TOO SERIOUSLY
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 11, 2010
Stanley Neace takes his brunch way too seriously. He was pissed because his wife didn’t cook the eggs properly a little before noon today. So he shotgunned her. Then four other people. Then himself.
Stanley Neace, 47, and five other people died in two mobile homes in Jackson, Kentucky shortly before noon today.
Neace’s wife left the mobile home and went to a neighbor after her husband went stupid on her over the eggs. He followed, with a shotgun. He killed his wife, his wife’s daughter and three witnesses though he didn’t kill a young girl who was there.
He went back to his own house and killed himself on the porch as the cops arrived.
Clicking here will link to a YahooNews story on this subject.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
ISLAMIC DEPICTION OF ADAM AND EVE
Actually this is the Shiite version. The Sunnis would give Eve at least a dozen lashes for showing a bit too much leg.
OBAMA AND CLINTON: TWO OSTRICHES WITH THEIR HEADS STUCK IN THE SAND (2)
Memo to President Obama and Secretary Clinton: Remove your heads out of whatever. It’s obvious that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is impossible. Why won’t you see that?
PALESTINIANS SET THEIR SIGHTS ON ALL OF JERUSALEM
Israel Today
September 7, 2010
The Palestinian Authority on Sunday again reiterated to its own people in Arabic that the ultimate goal in regards to Jerusalem is to wrest control of the entire city from Israel. And once again, the international media ignored the nefarious agenda that the Palestinians themselves admit they have.
The WAFA news agency, an official mouthpiece of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO wrote that the Palestinian government was outraged this week when the World Jewish Congress kicked off its annual gathering in Jerusalem.
"The action...is a blatant defiance of international resolutions, which considers all Israeli actions in Jerusalem as 'invalid and illegal', and which emphasizes that Jerusalem is part and parcel of the occupied territory," read the Palestinian statement.
The Palestinians called the World Jewish Congress meeting an act of "Israeli aggression against the holy city" and "a provocation to the feelings of Arab and Islamic nations."
The thing is that the World Jewish Congress is being held at the David Citadel Hotel on the western side of Jerusalem, which up until now has not been disputed as sovereign Israeli territory.
It was also telling that the Palestinian statement did not use the phrase "East Jerusalem" when referring to Palestinian rights to the city, but rather the entirety of Jerusalem.
International media and world leader regularly ignore what the Palestinians and other Arabs say in Arabic as it presents an inconvenience to their own "peace" efforts. However, as Israelis often point out, those words in Arabic are laying the foundation for continued conflict even if a peace deal is signed.
PALESTINIANS SET THEIR SIGHTS ON ALL OF JERUSALEM
Israel Today
September 7, 2010
The Palestinian Authority on Sunday again reiterated to its own people in Arabic that the ultimate goal in regards to Jerusalem is to wrest control of the entire city from Israel. And once again, the international media ignored the nefarious agenda that the Palestinians themselves admit they have.
The WAFA news agency, an official mouthpiece of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO wrote that the Palestinian government was outraged this week when the World Jewish Congress kicked off its annual gathering in Jerusalem.
"The action...is a blatant defiance of international resolutions, which considers all Israeli actions in Jerusalem as 'invalid and illegal', and which emphasizes that Jerusalem is part and parcel of the occupied territory," read the Palestinian statement.
The Palestinians called the World Jewish Congress meeting an act of "Israeli aggression against the holy city" and "a provocation to the feelings of Arab and Islamic nations."
The thing is that the World Jewish Congress is being held at the David Citadel Hotel on the western side of Jerusalem, which up until now has not been disputed as sovereign Israeli territory.
It was also telling that the Palestinian statement did not use the phrase "East Jerusalem" when referring to Palestinian rights to the city, but rather the entirety of Jerusalem.
International media and world leader regularly ignore what the Palestinians and other Arabs say in Arabic as it presents an inconvenience to their own "peace" efforts. However, as Israelis often point out, those words in Arabic are laying the foundation for continued conflict even if a peace deal is signed.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
CIVILIZED CHRISTIANS, ISLAMIC BARBARIANS
In 1989, contemporary artist Andres Serrano exhibited his ‘Piss Christ’ (Serrano's title) photogragph of a crucifix submerged in a jar of Serrano's blood and urine. The exhibit was a deliberate attempt by the artist (?) to offend members of the Christian faith. Serrano had received a $15,000 grant for his exhibit from the National Endowment for the Arts, a U.S. government agency that offers support and funding for artistic projects. ‘Piss Christ’ won the "Awards in the Visual Arts" competition awarded by the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.
In 1990, the "Tongues of Flame" exhibit by artist David Wojnarowicz consisted of several offensive depictions of Jesus Christ, including one of Jesus "mainlining" heroin by injecting a hypodermic needle into his arm. Wojnarowicz's exhibit was also funded by the NEA.
Nothing could have been more offensive to Christians than displaying a crucifix of Jesus submerged in a jar full of piss. A depiction of Jesus taking a fix of heroin would be a close second. So, did Christians throughout the world riot over these outrages? No, they did not!
The Christian faithful expressed their outrage through peaceful picketing of the exhibits, through media campaigns, and through their congressional representatives. No threats were issued against the lives of Serrano and Wojnarowicz. Most of the outrage was expressed against the NEA for funding these offensive exhibits, but attempts by members of Congress to withhold its funding failed.
In September, 2005, several political cartoons depicting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published in a Danish newspaper. One of the cartoons depicted the prophet wearing a turban in the form of a bomb. The Muslim faith considers any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemy. So how did Muslims react to the cartoons?
The outrage of Muslims was expressed by massive violent riots throughout Islam. These occurred in Gaza and the West Bank, in Syria and Lebanon, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Indonesia, and in most other Muslim countries. An Islamic group in Pakistan offered a bounty for the murder of the Danish cartoonists, while others threatened to cut off their hands or heads.
Now we’ve got the Ground Zero mosque controversy and a plan to burn the Quran which the mosque controversy spawned. From the beginning of his announced intention, I figured that Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida, would eventually ‘chicken out’ on his plan to burn the Quran on the grounds of his church.
Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the proposed mosque, has every right to build his mosque near the hallowed Ground Zero. Pastor Jones has every right to burn Qurans because the courts have ruled that demonstrations like burning American flags constitute protected free speech. But legal rights are far different from moral rights. Imam Rauf has no right to disregard the sensitivities of the 3,000 families who lost loved ones in an attack carried out by Muslims in the name of Islam. And Pastor Jones has no right to disregard the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful.
Pastor Jones’ plan to burn the Quran has already resulted in riotous demonstrations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia where the mobs shouted ‘Death to America’ and burned U.S. flags and Christian bibles. Imam Rauf has warned that if he moves the mosque to another site, the Muslim world will riot and Al Qaeda will be swamped with recruits eager to bring about death to America. Imam Rauf adds that moving the mosque would be giving in to America’s radicals. 71 percent of Americans are opposed to building a mosque near Ground Zero and, according to Imam Rauf, they are all radicals.
The difference between civilized Christians and Islamic barbarians can be explained by how each group is educated. The Western nations, which are predominantly Christian, have modern educations systems, while in many parts of the Muslim world, education takes place in fundamentalist religious schools where textbooks are full of hatred against Western culture, against Christians and Jews, and even against other Muslim sects, such as the hatred between Shiites and Sunnis. That is why so many Muslims live in poverty - by Western standards they are simply ignorant.
Devout Muslims throughout the world, who have been educated in modern secular schools, did not resort to violence when the Prophet Muhammad was defiled by political cartoonists. Muslims who are well educated share in the world's wealth, while those from the fundamentalist religious schools – the vast majority of Muslims in the world - will continue to live in poverty and ignorance, and no amount of ‘make nice-nice’ by Obama will ever win the hearts and minds of those who live by a literal interpretation of the Quran and equate Christians to swine and Jews to apes and dogs.
The difference between people educated in the Western world and Islam's uneducated masses is that in most cases Westerners express their religious outrage civilly, while the Islamic barbarians express theirs by resorting to threats and violence.
In 1990, the "Tongues of Flame" exhibit by artist David Wojnarowicz consisted of several offensive depictions of Jesus Christ, including one of Jesus "mainlining" heroin by injecting a hypodermic needle into his arm. Wojnarowicz's exhibit was also funded by the NEA.
Nothing could have been more offensive to Christians than displaying a crucifix of Jesus submerged in a jar full of piss. A depiction of Jesus taking a fix of heroin would be a close second. So, did Christians throughout the world riot over these outrages? No, they did not!
The Christian faithful expressed their outrage through peaceful picketing of the exhibits, through media campaigns, and through their congressional representatives. No threats were issued against the lives of Serrano and Wojnarowicz. Most of the outrage was expressed against the NEA for funding these offensive exhibits, but attempts by members of Congress to withhold its funding failed.
In September, 2005, several political cartoons depicting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published in a Danish newspaper. One of the cartoons depicted the prophet wearing a turban in the form of a bomb. The Muslim faith considers any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemy. So how did Muslims react to the cartoons?
The outrage of Muslims was expressed by massive violent riots throughout Islam. These occurred in Gaza and the West Bank, in Syria and Lebanon, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Indonesia, and in most other Muslim countries. An Islamic group in Pakistan offered a bounty for the murder of the Danish cartoonists, while others threatened to cut off their hands or heads.
Now we’ve got the Ground Zero mosque controversy and a plan to burn the Quran which the mosque controversy spawned. From the beginning of his announced intention, I figured that Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida, would eventually ‘chicken out’ on his plan to burn the Quran on the grounds of his church.
Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the proposed mosque, has every right to build his mosque near the hallowed Ground Zero. Pastor Jones has every right to burn Qurans because the courts have ruled that demonstrations like burning American flags constitute protected free speech. But legal rights are far different from moral rights. Imam Rauf has no right to disregard the sensitivities of the 3,000 families who lost loved ones in an attack carried out by Muslims in the name of Islam. And Pastor Jones has no right to disregard the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful.
Pastor Jones’ plan to burn the Quran has already resulted in riotous demonstrations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia where the mobs shouted ‘Death to America’ and burned U.S. flags and Christian bibles. Imam Rauf has warned that if he moves the mosque to another site, the Muslim world will riot and Al Qaeda will be swamped with recruits eager to bring about death to America. Imam Rauf adds that moving the mosque would be giving in to America’s radicals. 71 percent of Americans are opposed to building a mosque near Ground Zero and, according to Imam Rauf, they are all radicals.
The difference between civilized Christians and Islamic barbarians can be explained by how each group is educated. The Western nations, which are predominantly Christian, have modern educations systems, while in many parts of the Muslim world, education takes place in fundamentalist religious schools where textbooks are full of hatred against Western culture, against Christians and Jews, and even against other Muslim sects, such as the hatred between Shiites and Sunnis. That is why so many Muslims live in poverty - by Western standards they are simply ignorant.
Devout Muslims throughout the world, who have been educated in modern secular schools, did not resort to violence when the Prophet Muhammad was defiled by political cartoonists. Muslims who are well educated share in the world's wealth, while those from the fundamentalist religious schools – the vast majority of Muslims in the world - will continue to live in poverty and ignorance, and no amount of ‘make nice-nice’ by Obama will ever win the hearts and minds of those who live by a literal interpretation of the Quran and equate Christians to swine and Jews to apes and dogs.
The difference between people educated in the Western world and Islam's uneducated masses is that in most cases Westerners express their religious outrage civilly, while the Islamic barbarians express theirs by resorting to threats and violence.
'WRONG AND UNACCEPTABLE' ONLY BECAUSE HE GOT CAUGHT
Senator Boxer, don’t you realize that Marcus was only trying to improve Kookfornia’s stagnant economy, the job you hired him to do. After all, he was your senior economic adviser and you know that pot is your state’s largest cash crop. Now that you’ve fired Marcus, let’s hope the voters will fire you too this coming November!
Let’s make no mistake about it, I’m sure it was no secret to Boxer’s staff that Stanley was brining his ‘green leafy substance’ to the office. If Boxer’s staff knew it, she had to know it too. And I’m also sure he was not the only Boxer staffer that’s bringing pot to the office. The only reason Stanley got fired was because he got caught.
BOXER AIDE MARCUS STANLEY CHARGED WITH MARIJUANA POSSESSION
By Rachel Weiner
The Washington Post
September 8, 2010
The Los Angeles Times reports that Marcus Stanley, an aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer, was arrested Tuesday and charged with marijuana possession while entering the Hart Senate Office Building.
Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police, said officers observed Marcus Stanley, 43, with a "green leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana." He was released later on Tuesday, she said. Stanley had been working for Boxer's senate office since January 2009 as a senior economic adviser.
Because the charge was a misdemeanor, Stanley was released soon after being charged. He quit Boxer's staff shortly thereafter.
"Marcus Stanley is no longer with this office," said Zachary Coile, a spokesman for Boxer, in a statement released on Wednesday. "He submitted his resignation and Sen. Boxer accepted it because his actions yesterday were wrong and unacceptable."
Let’s make no mistake about it, I’m sure it was no secret to Boxer’s staff that Stanley was brining his ‘green leafy substance’ to the office. If Boxer’s staff knew it, she had to know it too. And I’m also sure he was not the only Boxer staffer that’s bringing pot to the office. The only reason Stanley got fired was because he got caught.
BOXER AIDE MARCUS STANLEY CHARGED WITH MARIJUANA POSSESSION
By Rachel Weiner
The Washington Post
September 8, 2010
The Los Angeles Times reports that Marcus Stanley, an aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer, was arrested Tuesday and charged with marijuana possession while entering the Hart Senate Office Building.
Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police, said officers observed Marcus Stanley, 43, with a "green leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana." He was released later on Tuesday, she said. Stanley had been working for Boxer's senate office since January 2009 as a senior economic adviser.
Because the charge was a misdemeanor, Stanley was released soon after being charged. He quit Boxer's staff shortly thereafter.
"Marcus Stanley is no longer with this office," said Zachary Coile, a spokesman for Boxer, in a statement released on Wednesday. "He submitted his resignation and Sen. Boxer accepted it because his actions yesterday were wrong and unacceptable."
SERIAL ESCAPEE BEATS GETTING FATALLY ZAPPED
This guy is a movie waiting to be made.
Bob Walsh says: Lethal fences are all well and good. Nothing beats eyes on the ground.
TOWER TIME? CONVICT BEATS LETAHL FENCE
By Jeff Doyle
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 10, 2010
Escaped prisoner defeated electric fence
STERLING – An inmate who escaped from one of the most secure prisons in the state bypassed a lethal electric fence surrounding the prison by grounding himself and going under the fence, 9Wants to Know has learned…
Douglas Alward escaped from the Sterling Correctional Facility on Aug. 22 and was found near a cornfield in Yuma County three days later after taking a woman hostage.
Alward, who escaped from state prisons twice before and a county courthouse once, was serving a 20- to 40-year prison sentence for convictions of attempted murder, assault, burglary and kidnapping…
Alward used a home made ladder created from copper that he got inside the prison to get over the razor wire on top of the fence closest to the prison…
Yards from the first fence is a "stun-lethal" electric fence designed to stun an inmate when touched the first time.
The fence then goes into lethal mode and charges with enough electricity to instantly kill anything that touches it a second time.
"The electric fence was operational but this individual devised a way to defeat that," Zavaras said.
"He found a way to ground himself," Zavaras said. "I don’t want to go into particulars for obvious reasons."…
Alward went under the electric fence and then over the final fence…(Full text at 9News.com)
----------
What with all the cell phones in our prisons, how long do you suppose word of how Alward beat the zapper is widespread? Of course, in typical California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation fashion, that won’t be a concern until it happens…
Bob Walsh says: Lethal fences are all well and good. Nothing beats eyes on the ground.
TOWER TIME? CONVICT BEATS LETAHL FENCE
By Jeff Doyle
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 10, 2010
Escaped prisoner defeated electric fence
STERLING – An inmate who escaped from one of the most secure prisons in the state bypassed a lethal electric fence surrounding the prison by grounding himself and going under the fence, 9Wants to Know has learned…
Douglas Alward escaped from the Sterling Correctional Facility on Aug. 22 and was found near a cornfield in Yuma County three days later after taking a woman hostage.
Alward, who escaped from state prisons twice before and a county courthouse once, was serving a 20- to 40-year prison sentence for convictions of attempted murder, assault, burglary and kidnapping…
Alward used a home made ladder created from copper that he got inside the prison to get over the razor wire on top of the fence closest to the prison…
Yards from the first fence is a "stun-lethal" electric fence designed to stun an inmate when touched the first time.
The fence then goes into lethal mode and charges with enough electricity to instantly kill anything that touches it a second time.
"The electric fence was operational but this individual devised a way to defeat that," Zavaras said.
"He found a way to ground himself," Zavaras said. "I don’t want to go into particulars for obvious reasons."…
Alward went under the electric fence and then over the final fence…(Full text at 9News.com)
----------
What with all the cell phones in our prisons, how long do you suppose word of how Alward beat the zapper is widespread? Of course, in typical California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation fashion, that won’t be a concern until it happens…
LIKE KOOKFORNIA, EVEN TEXAS HAS ITS SHARE OF KOOKS, ONLY NOT NEARLY AS MANY
But when it comes to Roger Clemens, the poll shows that most Texans do have good sense.
1 IN 5 TEXAS REPUBLICANS SUPPORT SECESSION; 1 IN 5 TEXANS SUPPORT ROGER CLEMENS
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 10, 2010
Public Policy Polling is a respected firm that recently did a survey on the governor's race and other political matters.
They threw in some other questions, too, and found some intriguing results. A full 21 percent of Texas Republicans support secession, for instance.
Think about it -- one out of every five Texas Republicans hates America so much they want to leave it. What would Lee Greenwood think?
Just as bad as the news about traitors is the news for Roger Clemens fans.Only 19 percent of Texans had a positive view of The Rocket, "and by a 37/15 margin they think he used steroids to prolong his career," the survey says. The results showed 27 percent of respondents had a negative view.
On the plus side for Clemens, 48 percent "had no opinion" on whether he used performance enhancing drugs.
Texans hate The Rocket, Texas Republicans hate America -- end times, indeed.
1 IN 5 TEXAS REPUBLICANS SUPPORT SECESSION; 1 IN 5 TEXANS SUPPORT ROGER CLEMENS
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 10, 2010
Public Policy Polling is a respected firm that recently did a survey on the governor's race and other political matters.
They threw in some other questions, too, and found some intriguing results. A full 21 percent of Texas Republicans support secession, for instance.
Think about it -- one out of every five Texas Republicans hates America so much they want to leave it. What would Lee Greenwood think?
Just as bad as the news about traitors is the news for Roger Clemens fans.Only 19 percent of Texans had a positive view of The Rocket, "and by a 37/15 margin they think he used steroids to prolong his career," the survey says. The results showed 27 percent of respondents had a negative view.
On the plus side for Clemens, 48 percent "had no opinion" on whether he used performance enhancing drugs.
Texans hate The Rocket, Texas Republicans hate America -- end times, indeed.
Friday, September 10, 2010
FAMILY SAVED BY RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS
In Texas he would have been arrested for not killing the bastards. Just kidding of course! But if the gun control crowd had its way, this man and his family would have been wiped out. Fuck the Brady bunch and all the other anti-gunners!
MAN ARRESTED IN NEW YORK AFTER FRIRING AK47 RIFLE TO DEFEND HOME FROM NOTRIOUS GANG
By James White
Mail Online
September 9, 2010
A father-of-two was arrested by police for firing an AK47 rifle into the ground outside his New York house in a bid to scare off gang members.
George Grier was held after 20 men believed to belong to the vicious MS-13 gang threatened him and his family on the lawn of their home in Uniondale, New York.
The weapon was legally held by Grier, a later investigation showed.
Speaking to a television reporter, he said: 'I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police.
'I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, "Can you please leave?"
The 30-year-old, who has no criminal record, claimed he was forced into the action when he saw five men arguing outside who were then joined by many more.
He told CBS New York: 'He starts threatening my family, my life. (He said) "Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead."
'So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass.'
Police were at the scene within minutes and arrested Grier who was later released on a $10,000 bond.
John Lewis, his attorney, said: 'What he’s initially charged with – a D felony reckless endangerment — requires a depraved indifference to human life, creating a risk that someone’s going to die.
'Shooting into a lawn doesn’t create a risk of anybody dying.'
Nassau County Police Lt. Andrew Mulraine, head of the gang unit, said MS-13 has 2,000 members in the county.
'They’re probably the most organised. They almost have a military hierarchy within the gang, so they are the most organised gang we encounter on a daily basis,' Mulraine said.
Police determined the AK47 rifle - capable of firing at a rate of 600 rounds-a-minute - was legally held. Grier was not charged over the alleged offence.
MAN ARRESTED IN NEW YORK AFTER FRIRING AK47 RIFLE TO DEFEND HOME FROM NOTRIOUS GANG
By James White
Mail Online
September 9, 2010
A father-of-two was arrested by police for firing an AK47 rifle into the ground outside his New York house in a bid to scare off gang members.
George Grier was held after 20 men believed to belong to the vicious MS-13 gang threatened him and his family on the lawn of their home in Uniondale, New York.
The weapon was legally held by Grier, a later investigation showed.
Speaking to a television reporter, he said: 'I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police.
'I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, "Can you please leave?"
The 30-year-old, who has no criminal record, claimed he was forced into the action when he saw five men arguing outside who were then joined by many more.
He told CBS New York: 'He starts threatening my family, my life. (He said) "Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead."
'So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass.'
Police were at the scene within minutes and arrested Grier who was later released on a $10,000 bond.
John Lewis, his attorney, said: 'What he’s initially charged with – a D felony reckless endangerment — requires a depraved indifference to human life, creating a risk that someone’s going to die.
'Shooting into a lawn doesn’t create a risk of anybody dying.'
Nassau County Police Lt. Andrew Mulraine, head of the gang unit, said MS-13 has 2,000 members in the county.
'They’re probably the most organised. They almost have a military hierarchy within the gang, so they are the most organised gang we encounter on a daily basis,' Mulraine said.
Police determined the AK47 rifle - capable of firing at a rate of 600 rounds-a-minute - was legally held. Grier was not charged over the alleged offence.
TEN-SPEED JESSE JAMES
DEAR BICYCLE BANDIT: FIVE SIMPLE RULES TO AID YOUR GETAWAY
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 9, 2010
A bike bandit is on the loose in Houston, of all places. Yes, right here in the anti-Portland, a brigand is holding up banks and making his getaway on a Schwinn.
We covered him early in his spree, but he's now hit six banks in the area.
As a fellow cyclist and a guy who hates banks as much as any good American, we're kind of pulling for the guy, so as a service, we're offering these five things to look out for, though there are others, too:
1. The mouths of parking garages. If the guy sticks up any of the downtown banks and tries to pedal down the sidewalk - which is illegal downtown, but something tells us our guy might not care too much about obscure clauses in the cycling code - he'll want to be very careful around these. Motorists often come barreling out of these as if the possibility that a cyclist or pedestrian might be coming down the sidewalk is a purely theoretical construct of no concern to them - like the possibility of water on Mars.
2. Stay the hell out of the so-called "bike lanes," except on Heights Boulevard. Most of these painted gutters are much too narrow and are little more than utterly glass- and debris-strewn nightmares. Want a flat tire to hinder your getaway? Ride in the bike lane - it will oblige faster than you can say "caltrops."
3. Also avoid the bike paths. There is nothing wrong with the bike paths. In fact, there is too much right with them. At certain times of day, they are congested. The harried bank robber will definitely not welcome the sight of the two moms walking side by side, pushing their baby carriages with a pet dog leashed to each one. These caravans occupy, oh, about 97.5 percent of both lanes of the bike path and cannot be run over easily or in good conscience.
4. Make sure you take a good lock, yo. Nothing would be more certain to land you in the stupid criminal hall of fame than if you came running out of the bank with your sack of cash and then found that some crackhead had hauled ass on your Huffy. Irony can be such a bitch. Don't let her victimize you and spring for some serious steel.
5. And even though we ride them regularly, we're gonna go ahead and advise you stay off the sidewalks...Open manhole covers, wires dangling from power lines, abandoned shopping carts, protruding tree limbs and agave plants, the occasional pedestrian...There's just too much that might get in your way.
So there you have it, mister bicycle bandit. Happy trails, you old ten-speed Jesse James!
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 9, 2010
A bike bandit is on the loose in Houston, of all places. Yes, right here in the anti-Portland, a brigand is holding up banks and making his getaway on a Schwinn.
We covered him early in his spree, but he's now hit six banks in the area.
As a fellow cyclist and a guy who hates banks as much as any good American, we're kind of pulling for the guy, so as a service, we're offering these five things to look out for, though there are others, too:
1. The mouths of parking garages. If the guy sticks up any of the downtown banks and tries to pedal down the sidewalk - which is illegal downtown, but something tells us our guy might not care too much about obscure clauses in the cycling code - he'll want to be very careful around these. Motorists often come barreling out of these as if the possibility that a cyclist or pedestrian might be coming down the sidewalk is a purely theoretical construct of no concern to them - like the possibility of water on Mars.
2. Stay the hell out of the so-called "bike lanes," except on Heights Boulevard. Most of these painted gutters are much too narrow and are little more than utterly glass- and debris-strewn nightmares. Want a flat tire to hinder your getaway? Ride in the bike lane - it will oblige faster than you can say "caltrops."
3. Also avoid the bike paths. There is nothing wrong with the bike paths. In fact, there is too much right with them. At certain times of day, they are congested. The harried bank robber will definitely not welcome the sight of the two moms walking side by side, pushing their baby carriages with a pet dog leashed to each one. These caravans occupy, oh, about 97.5 percent of both lanes of the bike path and cannot be run over easily or in good conscience.
4. Make sure you take a good lock, yo. Nothing would be more certain to land you in the stupid criminal hall of fame than if you came running out of the bank with your sack of cash and then found that some crackhead had hauled ass on your Huffy. Irony can be such a bitch. Don't let her victimize you and spring for some serious steel.
5. And even though we ride them regularly, we're gonna go ahead and advise you stay off the sidewalks...Open manhole covers, wires dangling from power lines, abandoned shopping carts, protruding tree limbs and agave plants, the occasional pedestrian...There's just too much that might get in your way.
So there you have it, mister bicycle bandit. Happy trails, you old ten-speed Jesse James!
MEXICO: WHAT'S THE REAL PROBLEM? (2)
According to the Associated Press, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday that drug cartels in Mexico and Central America are looking more like insurgencies, and the threat they pose is growing.
Clinton’s remarks simply confirm what I said before. But Clinton failed to attribute the insurgencies to the deep socioeconomic chasm that divides Mexican 'haves' and 'haves not.' As I wrote on August 27, whenever any country has a divide between the poverty-stricken masses and a small well-off ruling class, it will have an insurgency – in Mexico it’s in the form of gangs and in other countries it’s Marxist militias.
Clinton and the Obama administration still believe that it takes a war on drugs to bring down the drug cartels. What fools they be! No amount of help from the United States is going to bring about an end to the ‘insurgencies’ until Mexico’s socioeconomic chasm is bridged.
Clinton’s remarks simply confirm what I said before. But Clinton failed to attribute the insurgencies to the deep socioeconomic chasm that divides Mexican 'haves' and 'haves not.' As I wrote on August 27, whenever any country has a divide between the poverty-stricken masses and a small well-off ruling class, it will have an insurgency – in Mexico it’s in the form of gangs and in other countries it’s Marxist militias.
Clinton and the Obama administration still believe that it takes a war on drugs to bring down the drug cartels. What fools they be! No amount of help from the United States is going to bring about an end to the ‘insurgencies’ until Mexico’s socioeconomic chasm is bridged.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
SHERIFF TO THE FALLING STARS GETS SUED
Lee ‘Pepe Lepew’ Baca, sheriff to falling stars Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, is being sued in the aftermath of the favorable treatment given his close buddy Gibson.
DEPUTY WHO ARRESTED MEL GIBSON IN 2006 SUES SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
James Mee alleges he was the target of department retaliation because he resisted superiors’ requests to remove mention of the actor’s anti-Semitic slurs from his initial arrest report
By Robert Faturechi
Los Angeles Times
September 8, 2010
The deputy who arrested Mel Gibson in 2006 for drunk driving sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Tuesday, alleging that it retaliated against him because he resisted requests from superiors to remove the actor's anti-Semitic slurs from an initial arrest report.
Deputy James Mee said that in the four years since the incident, he has been passed over for promotions and had his job performance unfairly scrutinized. Because the deputy is Jewish, his attorneys said, he was unfairly suspected of leaking details of Gibson's tirade to the media.
"You go to work and you don't know what to expect," Mee said. "I'm constantly in fear."
Mee, who is still with the department, said that as a deputy assigned to DUI duty in Malibu, he approached the 2006 arrest as routine. He included Gibson's slurs, he said, to illustrate how drunk the actor was.
"The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," Mee quoted Gibson as saying.
Mee, 55, said he was planning to write the arrest report on another day because it was already late in his shift but was told by a supervisor that department higher-ups were waiting. Gibson, Mee's attorneys said, was of special interest to sheriff's officials because he was a friend of Sheriff Lee Baca's, and had been a spokesman in a public service announcement for a department-administered nonprofit.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Baca had "over the years been friendly" with Gibson, but denied that the sheriff intervened on the actor's behalf.
When Mee documented Gibson's rant, a supervisor told him that the material was "not acceptable" because the anti-Semitic comments were irrelevant to the DUI, Mee said.
Mee said he was asked to remove Gibson's comments from the initial report, and include them in a supplementary report that would not have been immediately available to the public.
"That makes it look like an afterthought," he said. "In front of a jury I would look like an idiot."
He said he eventually followed a lieutenant's order to write separate reports. A memo from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office later confirmed that Mee was instructed to write a supplemental report to be placed in a locked safe along with a recording of Gibson's booking and a bottle of tequila found with Gibson.
The Sheriff's Department downplayed the incident until Mee's initial report was made public by TMZ.com. Mee was suspected of leaking details to the celebrity news site. Despite records showing calls between his home and TMZ founder Harvey Levin, no charges were filed against the deputy.
On Tuesday, Mee said Levin called him multiple times. Mee said that he recognized Levin from the TV show "The People's Court," but that he provided no details to Levin. Mee's attorneys said that their client was unfairly targeted and that several other deputies had access to the report but were not investigated.
Since arresting Gibson, Mee alleged that he had been the target of internal investigations based on trumped-up allegations, causing stress and loss of potential earnings. His complaint details numerous instances in which he says he was overlooked for promotions and new positions despite being qualified. In one instance, Mee said, he was denied a position at the West Hollywood patrol station after interviewers told him they worried that he would be too harsh on high-profile individuals he stopped for violations.
The Sheriff's Department was criticized for its handling of the incident. The Office of Independent Review, a department watchdog, found that Gibson was given special treatment, including being allowed to leave the station without giving a required palm print and without signing a statement agreeing to appear in court. He was also driven to the tow yard by a sheriff's sergeant.
DEPUTY WHO ARRESTED MEL GIBSON IN 2006 SUES SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
James Mee alleges he was the target of department retaliation because he resisted superiors’ requests to remove mention of the actor’s anti-Semitic slurs from his initial arrest report
By Robert Faturechi
Los Angeles Times
September 8, 2010
The deputy who arrested Mel Gibson in 2006 for drunk driving sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Tuesday, alleging that it retaliated against him because he resisted requests from superiors to remove the actor's anti-Semitic slurs from an initial arrest report.
Deputy James Mee said that in the four years since the incident, he has been passed over for promotions and had his job performance unfairly scrutinized. Because the deputy is Jewish, his attorneys said, he was unfairly suspected of leaking details of Gibson's tirade to the media.
"You go to work and you don't know what to expect," Mee said. "I'm constantly in fear."
Mee, who is still with the department, said that as a deputy assigned to DUI duty in Malibu, he approached the 2006 arrest as routine. He included Gibson's slurs, he said, to illustrate how drunk the actor was.
"The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," Mee quoted Gibson as saying.
Mee, 55, said he was planning to write the arrest report on another day because it was already late in his shift but was told by a supervisor that department higher-ups were waiting. Gibson, Mee's attorneys said, was of special interest to sheriff's officials because he was a friend of Sheriff Lee Baca's, and had been a spokesman in a public service announcement for a department-administered nonprofit.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Baca had "over the years been friendly" with Gibson, but denied that the sheriff intervened on the actor's behalf.
When Mee documented Gibson's rant, a supervisor told him that the material was "not acceptable" because the anti-Semitic comments were irrelevant to the DUI, Mee said.
Mee said he was asked to remove Gibson's comments from the initial report, and include them in a supplementary report that would not have been immediately available to the public.
"That makes it look like an afterthought," he said. "In front of a jury I would look like an idiot."
He said he eventually followed a lieutenant's order to write separate reports. A memo from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office later confirmed that Mee was instructed to write a supplemental report to be placed in a locked safe along with a recording of Gibson's booking and a bottle of tequila found with Gibson.
The Sheriff's Department downplayed the incident until Mee's initial report was made public by TMZ.com. Mee was suspected of leaking details to the celebrity news site. Despite records showing calls between his home and TMZ founder Harvey Levin, no charges were filed against the deputy.
On Tuesday, Mee said Levin called him multiple times. Mee said that he recognized Levin from the TV show "The People's Court," but that he provided no details to Levin. Mee's attorneys said that their client was unfairly targeted and that several other deputies had access to the report but were not investigated.
Since arresting Gibson, Mee alleged that he had been the target of internal investigations based on trumped-up allegations, causing stress and loss of potential earnings. His complaint details numerous instances in which he says he was overlooked for promotions and new positions despite being qualified. In one instance, Mee said, he was denied a position at the West Hollywood patrol station after interviewers told him they worried that he would be too harsh on high-profile individuals he stopped for violations.
The Sheriff's Department was criticized for its handling of the incident. The Office of Independent Review, a department watchdog, found that Gibson was given special treatment, including being allowed to leave the station without giving a required palm print and without signing a statement agreeing to appear in court. He was also driven to the tow yard by a sheriff's sergeant.
A WISER FIDEL CASTRO
Surprising words from someone who, in the past, always sided with the Palestinians.
FIDEL CASTRO’S VIEWS ON JEWS
Mail Online
September 8, 2010
Speaking to Jeffrey Goldberg, a reporter for The Atlantic, Fidel Castro lifted the lid on his current political views - even questioning his own actions in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
He also criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his anti-Semitic views and urged him to back down from his pro-nuclear stance.
Goldberg was on holiday last month when an official from Cuba called to say Castro had read his recent article about Israel and Iran and wanted him to come to Cuba.
Goldberg asked Julia Sweig, a Cuba-U.S. policy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, to accompany him, and the pair spent portions of three days talking with Castro.
Goldberg said their first meeting lasted five hours and featured appearances by Castro's wife, Dalia, his son Antonio, and several bodyguards, two of which held his elbow to steady Castro when he moved.
'His body may be frail, but his mind is acute, his energy level is high,' wrote Goldberg, who also noted Castro's self-deprecating humour.
Golberg said Castro, who himself has been a fierce critic of Israel, 'repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism,' chiding Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust.
Castro said that Iran could further the cause of peace by 'acknowledging the "unique" history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence.'
The grey-bearded revolutionary related to Goldberg a story from his childhood that has been detailed by some biographers: that he overheard classmates saying Jews killed Jesus Christ.
'I didn't know what a Jew was. I knew of a bird that was a called a 'Jew,' and so for me the Jews were those birds,' Goldberg quoted Castro as telling him.
Castro later added, 'This is how ignorant the entire population was.'
According to Goldberg, Castro said, 'I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims.'
Castro also said that the Iranian government should understand that the Jews 'were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world, as the ones who killed God'.
FIDEL CASTRO’S VIEWS ON JEWS
Mail Online
September 8, 2010
Speaking to Jeffrey Goldberg, a reporter for The Atlantic, Fidel Castro lifted the lid on his current political views - even questioning his own actions in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
He also criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his anti-Semitic views and urged him to back down from his pro-nuclear stance.
Goldberg was on holiday last month when an official from Cuba called to say Castro had read his recent article about Israel and Iran and wanted him to come to Cuba.
Goldberg asked Julia Sweig, a Cuba-U.S. policy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, to accompany him, and the pair spent portions of three days talking with Castro.
Goldberg said their first meeting lasted five hours and featured appearances by Castro's wife, Dalia, his son Antonio, and several bodyguards, two of which held his elbow to steady Castro when he moved.
'His body may be frail, but his mind is acute, his energy level is high,' wrote Goldberg, who also noted Castro's self-deprecating humour.
Golberg said Castro, who himself has been a fierce critic of Israel, 'repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism,' chiding Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust.
Castro said that Iran could further the cause of peace by 'acknowledging the "unique" history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence.'
The grey-bearded revolutionary related to Goldberg a story from his childhood that has been detailed by some biographers: that he overheard classmates saying Jews killed Jesus Christ.
'I didn't know what a Jew was. I knew of a bird that was a called a 'Jew,' and so for me the Jews were those birds,' Goldberg quoted Castro as telling him.
Castro later added, 'This is how ignorant the entire population was.'
According to Goldberg, Castro said, 'I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims.'
Castro also said that the Iranian government should understand that the Jews 'were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world, as the ones who killed God'.
WOW, BUSH NOT TO BLAME!
In its own investigation of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, BP (formerly British Petroleum) would only admit that its representatives went along with Transocean when it incorrectly interpreted a safety test that should have flagged up risks of a blowout. BP, the well driller, laid almost all the blame on Transocean, Halliburton and Cameron International.
Transocean operated the drilling rig. Halliburton cemented the well. Cameron International manufactured the blowout preventer.
I’m surprised BP didn’t put some of the blame on George W. Bush. After all, that’s what President Obama has done. If Obama and the Democrats had their way, BP would be known as Bush Petroleum.
Transocean operated the drilling rig. Halliburton cemented the well. Cameron International manufactured the blowout preventer.
I’m surprised BP didn’t put some of the blame on George W. Bush. After all, that’s what President Obama has done. If Obama and the Democrats had their way, BP would be known as Bush Petroleum.
WHY NOT THROW THE ELDERLY OUT OF PRISON?
Gee Paco, you’re cold! Have you no consideration for us demented old farts? If saving money isn’t a good reason for throwing the elderly out of prison, what is? I’m reporting you to the ACLU, NAACP, Amnesty International, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll make a special appeal to President Obama.
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE OLD?
By Jeff Doyle
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 8, 2010
Souderton man, 81, gets prison for strangling wife
By John P. Martin
Philadelphia Inquirer
__An 81-year-old Souderton man who strangled his elderly wife in January over long-standing suspicions that she cheated on him was sentenced Tuesday to 71/2 to 15 years in state prison.
__Rudi Koos pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in May…he sat in a wheelchair, weeping quietly, as Montgomery County Court Judge William Carpenter imposed a punishment that might effectively be a life term.
__Assistant District Attorney Bradford A. Richman…noted that doctors had ruled out dementia or any other medical condition to explain why Koos snapped into a deadly rage…
__Koos himself called police on Jan. 6 as his 75-year-old wife, Waltraud, lay in the kitchen of the Souderton apartment where they had lived for decades…Koos told police he…choked his wife until she stopped breathing…(Full text at Philadelphia Inquirer)
The case of Rudi Koot caught Paco’s eye in that elderly killers are very rare. Further, a 7 1/2 to 15 year term for murder, albeit the "3rd degree" variety, seems a rather light sentence for intentional homicide. More importantly, taken in context with the national trend toward releasing chronically ill and elderly criminals to minimize medical liabilities, Koos’ case highlights the idiocy of this trend.
Elsewhere, killers Koos’ age and of comparable health are pending "compassionate release" even as he is received by the DOC–Why not let him skate altogether?
State Roundup: Elderly Inmates Burden Cash-Strapped States…
__The Associated Press reports on "the national surge in elderly inmates whose medical expenses are straining cash-strapped states and have officials looking for solutions, including early release, some possibly to nursing homes. … That burden is becoming greater as the American Civil Liberties Union estimates that elderly prisoners — the fastest growing segment of the prison population, largely because of tough sentencing laws — are three times more expensive to incarcerate than younger inmates. The ACLU estimates that it costs about $72,000 to house an elderly inmate for a year, compared to $24,000 for a younger prisoner…" (Full text at Kaiser Health News)
Age does not mitigate malevolence–it merely softens the offender’s appearance. Yes, at some point even Rudi Koos will be physically unable to harm another. In that regard, public safety is not in jeopardy when such meek offenders are released early. However, it is an offense upon the public when just punishment is obviated in the name of saving money.
So it is, the state slouches toward medical parole and other Savings over Safety measures (e.g. Non Revocable Parole) to the detriment of the public good. And, indeed, much of the public is good with it. After all, we can’t afford to pay the medical freight for all of those sweet looking old men so why not let ‘em go?
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE OLD?
By Jeff Doyle
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 8, 2010
Souderton man, 81, gets prison for strangling wife
By John P. Martin
Philadelphia Inquirer
__An 81-year-old Souderton man who strangled his elderly wife in January over long-standing suspicions that she cheated on him was sentenced Tuesday to 71/2 to 15 years in state prison.
__Rudi Koos pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in May…he sat in a wheelchair, weeping quietly, as Montgomery County Court Judge William Carpenter imposed a punishment that might effectively be a life term.
__Assistant District Attorney Bradford A. Richman…noted that doctors had ruled out dementia or any other medical condition to explain why Koos snapped into a deadly rage…
__Koos himself called police on Jan. 6 as his 75-year-old wife, Waltraud, lay in the kitchen of the Souderton apartment where they had lived for decades…Koos told police he…choked his wife until she stopped breathing…(Full text at Philadelphia Inquirer)
The case of Rudi Koot caught Paco’s eye in that elderly killers are very rare. Further, a 7 1/2 to 15 year term for murder, albeit the "3rd degree" variety, seems a rather light sentence for intentional homicide. More importantly, taken in context with the national trend toward releasing chronically ill and elderly criminals to minimize medical liabilities, Koos’ case highlights the idiocy of this trend.
Elsewhere, killers Koos’ age and of comparable health are pending "compassionate release" even as he is received by the DOC–Why not let him skate altogether?
State Roundup: Elderly Inmates Burden Cash-Strapped States…
__The Associated Press reports on "the national surge in elderly inmates whose medical expenses are straining cash-strapped states and have officials looking for solutions, including early release, some possibly to nursing homes. … That burden is becoming greater as the American Civil Liberties Union estimates that elderly prisoners — the fastest growing segment of the prison population, largely because of tough sentencing laws — are three times more expensive to incarcerate than younger inmates. The ACLU estimates that it costs about $72,000 to house an elderly inmate for a year, compared to $24,000 for a younger prisoner…" (Full text at Kaiser Health News)
Age does not mitigate malevolence–it merely softens the offender’s appearance. Yes, at some point even Rudi Koos will be physically unable to harm another. In that regard, public safety is not in jeopardy when such meek offenders are released early. However, it is an offense upon the public when just punishment is obviated in the name of saving money.
So it is, the state slouches toward medical parole and other Savings over Safety measures (e.g. Non Revocable Parole) to the detriment of the public good. And, indeed, much of the public is good with it. After all, we can’t afford to pay the medical freight for all of those sweet looking old men so why not let ‘em go?
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
THREE-TIERED JUSTICE, NOT EQUAL JUSTICE
‘Equal Justice’ is a term that has been ingrained in our minds since we were little school kids. But the truth is that equal justice is a bad joke! What we have in this country is a three-tiered justice system - one for the ‘have-nots’, one for the ‘haves’ and one for celebrities. The have-nots cannot afford legal representation. The haves can afford the best attorneys and expert witnesses that money can buy. The celebrities are haves who are given special consideration not given to the other haves.
What is really galling is the special treatment afforded celebrities. The latest case involves the quickie-release of Paris Hilton following her cocaine possession arrest in Las Vegas. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hilton was released from jail within three hours, about half the average time it takes for the other haves to be processed through the Clark County Detention Center on the same charge. (The have-nots would remain jailed because they wouldn’t be able to afford the bail.)
According to the police, Hilton’s quickie-release was pushed through the booking process in order to get her into a separate room, thus relieving the jailers from having to keep the other inmates away from her. What a crock of shit! That’s the same lame excuse for keeping Linsay Lohan in special quarters during her shortened jail term recently. Do the authorities really believe that Hilton and Lohan were in danger of being raped by the other women inmates? Of course not! The other inmates would slobber all over themselves to get Hilton’s and Lohan’s autographs.
This is not the first time Paris has been the beneficiary of special treatment by jail authorities. Lee ‘Pepe Lepew’ Baca, LA’s sheriff to the falling stars – Mel Gibson, Hilton, Lohan and others – is best known for the special consideration his department metes out to Hollywood Luminaries. Back in 2007 when, after getting caught driving with a suspended license three times while on probation following a drunk driving arrest, Paris Hilton was finally sentenced to serve 45 days in jail. Not so fast – Pepe Lepew had Paris released after only 72 hours of confinement. And after the judge ordered him to take her back into custody, Hilton’s wealthy family members were given special visiting privileges.
As for separating celebrities form the ‘little people’ in jail, that and releasing them early is exactly the opposite of what should be done. Those pampered Hollywood luminaries feel that they’re above the law. They continually thumb their noses at the criminal justice system because they’ve come to expect the special consideration they’ve always been given. The Gibsons, Hiltons and Lohans are badly in need of some attitude adjustment, but that won’t come about until they are treated exactly the same as the little people.
Speaking of Pepe Lepew, the special favors Baca has given close buddy Mel Gibson may have come back to bite him in the ass. The deputy who arrested Gibson in 2006 for drunk driving sued the LASO on Tuesday, alleging that it retaliated against him because he resisted requests from superiors to remove the actor's anti-Semitic slurs from the initial arrest report.
As for the have-nots, there is no doubt that some of them are really getting fucked. But I’m not shedding any tears because most of them committed the crimes for which they are charged. By keeping them in jail when they can’t make bail, they are prevented from preying on the public as many of them do while out on bail.
So, isn’t it about time that we stop all this bullshit about equal justice? Let’s recognize the criminal justice system for what it is – a three-tiered system that favors the haves over the have-nots. That’s unequal justice any way you look at it.
What is really galling is the special treatment afforded celebrities. The latest case involves the quickie-release of Paris Hilton following her cocaine possession arrest in Las Vegas. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hilton was released from jail within three hours, about half the average time it takes for the other haves to be processed through the Clark County Detention Center on the same charge. (The have-nots would remain jailed because they wouldn’t be able to afford the bail.)
According to the police, Hilton’s quickie-release was pushed through the booking process in order to get her into a separate room, thus relieving the jailers from having to keep the other inmates away from her. What a crock of shit! That’s the same lame excuse for keeping Linsay Lohan in special quarters during her shortened jail term recently. Do the authorities really believe that Hilton and Lohan were in danger of being raped by the other women inmates? Of course not! The other inmates would slobber all over themselves to get Hilton’s and Lohan’s autographs.
This is not the first time Paris has been the beneficiary of special treatment by jail authorities. Lee ‘Pepe Lepew’ Baca, LA’s sheriff to the falling stars – Mel Gibson, Hilton, Lohan and others – is best known for the special consideration his department metes out to Hollywood Luminaries. Back in 2007 when, after getting caught driving with a suspended license three times while on probation following a drunk driving arrest, Paris Hilton was finally sentenced to serve 45 days in jail. Not so fast – Pepe Lepew had Paris released after only 72 hours of confinement. And after the judge ordered him to take her back into custody, Hilton’s wealthy family members were given special visiting privileges.
As for separating celebrities form the ‘little people’ in jail, that and releasing them early is exactly the opposite of what should be done. Those pampered Hollywood luminaries feel that they’re above the law. They continually thumb their noses at the criminal justice system because they’ve come to expect the special consideration they’ve always been given. The Gibsons, Hiltons and Lohans are badly in need of some attitude adjustment, but that won’t come about until they are treated exactly the same as the little people.
Speaking of Pepe Lepew, the special favors Baca has given close buddy Mel Gibson may have come back to bite him in the ass. The deputy who arrested Gibson in 2006 for drunk driving sued the LASO on Tuesday, alleging that it retaliated against him because he resisted requests from superiors to remove the actor's anti-Semitic slurs from the initial arrest report.
As for the have-nots, there is no doubt that some of them are really getting fucked. But I’m not shedding any tears because most of them committed the crimes for which they are charged. By keeping them in jail when they can’t make bail, they are prevented from preying on the public as many of them do while out on bail.
So, isn’t it about time that we stop all this bullshit about equal justice? Let’s recognize the criminal justice system for what it is – a three-tiered system that favors the haves over the have-nots. That’s unequal justice any way you look at it.
CAN'T YOU LET YOUR DEPUTIES HAVE A LITTLE FUN?
Awwww, come on Sheriff, can’t you let your deputies have a little fun? At least they went deep into the forest. Besides that, those nasty rumors about Scarlett being a dike are now dispelled. And I’ll bet the forest ranger and the Carter County deputy were both doing ‘hand jobs’ while they kept on watching your naked deputies fucking-each other.
SHERIFF FIRES DEPUTIES CAUGHT NAKED IN FOREST
By Becky Campbell
Johnson City Press
September 7, 2010
Two Washington County [Tennessee] Sheriff’s deputies caught drinking and having sex at a U.S. Forest campground are now off the county’s payroll.
Sheriff Ed Graybeal said Tuesday he dismissed Deputies Chris Adkins and Scarlett Dennison from their positions as patrol officers for the sheriff’s office because their conduct was unbecoming of officers, which violated the department’s general orders.
Adkins, 30, and Dennison, 42, paid around $250 each for the citations they received earlier this month from a U.S. Forest Service officer.
The event that led to the firings happened on a Friday night when the deputies were off duty. The U.S. Forest Service office and a Carter County deputy, working off-duty with the forest service at the time, came upon Adkins, Dennison and a third person, Jamie Walsh, 32, of Butler, around 11 p.m. July 30 at Cardens Bluff Campground.
The forest ranger and Carter County deputy were conducting patrols at area federal forest land campgrounds. The Forest Service hires off-duty Carter County deputies to assist them with patrolling those areas.
According to the federal citations charging the three, the forest ranger saw the three at a camp site drinking alcohol in the open and then engaging in sex.
No one has been able to say how long U.S. Forest Service Officer Scott Cairnes and Deputy Derek Hamm stood watching the trio, but in Cairnes’ report he wrote that he saw Dennison and Adkins engage in three sex acts and then Adkins and Walsh began to fondle Dennison.
Cairnes and Hamm made their presence known after the campers were startled by a camper at another site closing a truck door and the three stopped what they were doing.
Walsh also has paid his fines, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Helen Smith.
The three were charged with possessing alcohol in a prohibited area, public nudity and public intoxication. Adkins had an additional charge of child endangerment because his 2-year-old son was asleep in a tent at the campsite.
Adkins and Dennison had been on paid suspension from the sheriff’s office since the incident. Both were patrol officers and worked on the same platoon.
SHERIFF FIRES DEPUTIES CAUGHT NAKED IN FOREST
By Becky Campbell
Johnson City Press
September 7, 2010
Two Washington County [Tennessee] Sheriff’s deputies caught drinking and having sex at a U.S. Forest campground are now off the county’s payroll.
Sheriff Ed Graybeal said Tuesday he dismissed Deputies Chris Adkins and Scarlett Dennison from their positions as patrol officers for the sheriff’s office because their conduct was unbecoming of officers, which violated the department’s general orders.
Adkins, 30, and Dennison, 42, paid around $250 each for the citations they received earlier this month from a U.S. Forest Service officer.
The event that led to the firings happened on a Friday night when the deputies were off duty. The U.S. Forest Service office and a Carter County deputy, working off-duty with the forest service at the time, came upon Adkins, Dennison and a third person, Jamie Walsh, 32, of Butler, around 11 p.m. July 30 at Cardens Bluff Campground.
The forest ranger and Carter County deputy were conducting patrols at area federal forest land campgrounds. The Forest Service hires off-duty Carter County deputies to assist them with patrolling those areas.
According to the federal citations charging the three, the forest ranger saw the three at a camp site drinking alcohol in the open and then engaging in sex.
No one has been able to say how long U.S. Forest Service Officer Scott Cairnes and Deputy Derek Hamm stood watching the trio, but in Cairnes’ report he wrote that he saw Dennison and Adkins engage in three sex acts and then Adkins and Walsh began to fondle Dennison.
Cairnes and Hamm made their presence known after the campers were startled by a camper at another site closing a truck door and the three stopped what they were doing.
Walsh also has paid his fines, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Helen Smith.
The three were charged with possessing alcohol in a prohibited area, public nudity and public intoxication. Adkins had an additional charge of child endangerment because his 2-year-old son was asleep in a tent at the campsite.
Adkins and Dennison had been on paid suspension from the sheriff’s office since the incident. Both were patrol officers and worked on the same platoon.
GENTLEMAN CHILD MOLESTER
RAYMOND GARCIA: I WOULDN’T HAVE ABUSED THAT KID IF IT WAS A GIRL
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 7, 2010
There are ways to respond to police when you're being questioned about possibly sexually abusing a kid. Defense lawyers would probably not suggest using Raymond Garcia's template.
Garcia, 24, was identified in a police lineup by a San Antonio mom and her 8-year-old child, who said he was the man who broke into their apartment and sexually abused the boy.
To which Garcia replied: Hey, I was kinda high on meth -- not too high, you understand, but high. Oh, and if the kid had been a girl I woulda never touched her.Verrry subtle way to build the foundaiton blocks for your defense, dude.
An affidavit describes events, the San Antonio Express-News reports.
__Garcia allegedly told police he'd injected methamphetamine shortly before he wandered into the apartment, but apparently remembered what happened.
__"He attempted to mitigate his actions on the issue of the drug use," the affidavit states, "but admitted that the major portion of the high only lasted a short time, and that if he would have had to drive a motor vehicle, he would have considered himself capable."
But he wasn't finished with explanations quite yet, KENS noted:
__According to the warrant, the suspect also admits to inappropriately touching the boy "just two or three times."
__According to the arrest document, Garcia also claims he would not have acted on the victim if the child had been female.
A true gentleman.
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 7, 2010
There are ways to respond to police when you're being questioned about possibly sexually abusing a kid. Defense lawyers would probably not suggest using Raymond Garcia's template.
Garcia, 24, was identified in a police lineup by a San Antonio mom and her 8-year-old child, who said he was the man who broke into their apartment and sexually abused the boy.
To which Garcia replied: Hey, I was kinda high on meth -- not too high, you understand, but high. Oh, and if the kid had been a girl I woulda never touched her.Verrry subtle way to build the foundaiton blocks for your defense, dude.
An affidavit describes events, the San Antonio Express-News reports.
__Garcia allegedly told police he'd injected methamphetamine shortly before he wandered into the apartment, but apparently remembered what happened.
__"He attempted to mitigate his actions on the issue of the drug use," the affidavit states, "but admitted that the major portion of the high only lasted a short time, and that if he would have had to drive a motor vehicle, he would have considered himself capable."
But he wasn't finished with explanations quite yet, KENS noted:
__According to the warrant, the suspect also admits to inappropriately touching the boy "just two or three times."
__According to the arrest document, Garcia also claims he would not have acted on the victim if the child had been female.
A true gentleman.
OBAMA AND CLINTON: TWO OSTRICHES WITH THEIR HEADS STUCK IN THE SAND
Memo to President Obama and Secretary Clinton: Remove your heads out of whatever. It’s obvious that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is impossible. Why won’t you see that?
PALESTINIANS SAY UNWILLING TO COMPROMISE FOR PEACE
Israel Today
September 7, 2010
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas clarified for his people on Monday that he intends to make not even one concession or compromise in direct peace negotiations with Israel, and that for a final status peace to be achieved, Israel will have to fully meet all Arab demands and abandon its own conditions.
First and foremost, Abbas told Palestinian newspapers that if the Jewish building freeze in Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") is not extended indefinitely, the negotiations will come to an immediate halt. But Abbas also said he would walk out of the talks if he is pressured at all to alter the Palestinians' more hardline positions.
"If they demand concessions on the rights of the refugees or the 1967 borders, I will quit. I can’t allow myself to make even one concession," Abbas told the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam.
Abbas was referring to the Palestinian demand that Israel solve the purported "Palestinian refugee" issue by opening its border to millions of new Arab citizens. Abbas has long championed that demand, despite the fact that it would mean the demographic destruction of the Jewish state. Even Israel's most liberal politicians reject the so-called "right of return."
The Palestinian leader's position on the issue was two-faced, as he then turned around and insisted that an independent Palestinian state created by the current peace process must not have a single Jew living in it. "We clarified that [the Palestinian Authority] would not agree to continued Israeli presence, military or civil, within a future Palestinian state," Abbas said.
In speaking of the 1967 borders, Abbas made it clear that he will not allow Israel to maintain control over a united Jerusalem as part of any peace deal. Up until 1967, the eastern half of Jerusalem was illegally occupied by Jordan. The Palestinians now claim it as their rightful capital.
Abbas reiterated his position in an interview with Jerusalem-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds when he rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talk of a historic compromise between the two sides in order to reach a durable peace agreement.
Abbas also addressed Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as "the Jewish state."
"We're not talking about a Jewish state and we won't talk about one," Abbas said. "For us, there is the state of Israel and we won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state."
PALESTINIANS SAY UNWILLING TO COMPROMISE FOR PEACE
Israel Today
September 7, 2010
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas clarified for his people on Monday that he intends to make not even one concession or compromise in direct peace negotiations with Israel, and that for a final status peace to be achieved, Israel will have to fully meet all Arab demands and abandon its own conditions.
First and foremost, Abbas told Palestinian newspapers that if the Jewish building freeze in Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") is not extended indefinitely, the negotiations will come to an immediate halt. But Abbas also said he would walk out of the talks if he is pressured at all to alter the Palestinians' more hardline positions.
"If they demand concessions on the rights of the refugees or the 1967 borders, I will quit. I can’t allow myself to make even one concession," Abbas told the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam.
Abbas was referring to the Palestinian demand that Israel solve the purported "Palestinian refugee" issue by opening its border to millions of new Arab citizens. Abbas has long championed that demand, despite the fact that it would mean the demographic destruction of the Jewish state. Even Israel's most liberal politicians reject the so-called "right of return."
The Palestinian leader's position on the issue was two-faced, as he then turned around and insisted that an independent Palestinian state created by the current peace process must not have a single Jew living in it. "We clarified that [the Palestinian Authority] would not agree to continued Israeli presence, military or civil, within a future Palestinian state," Abbas said.
In speaking of the 1967 borders, Abbas made it clear that he will not allow Israel to maintain control over a united Jerusalem as part of any peace deal. Up until 1967, the eastern half of Jerusalem was illegally occupied by Jordan. The Palestinians now claim it as their rightful capital.
Abbas reiterated his position in an interview with Jerusalem-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds when he rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talk of a historic compromise between the two sides in order to reach a durable peace agreement.
Abbas also addressed Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as "the Jewish state."
"We're not talking about a Jewish state and we won't talk about one," Abbas said. "For us, there is the state of Israel and we won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state."
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
OBAMA AND CLINTON ARE PAVING A ROAD TO ACCOMODATE THOSE WHO WOULD DESTROY ISRAEL
If Netanyahu caves in and extends the building freeze in the West Band and in Jerusalem, he will be stabbing us - those who supported his election - in the back. With Clinton sitting between them, when Netanyahu looked at Abbas and said "I have a partner for peace" he must have been drunk.
VICTIMS ON THE ROAD TO ‘PEACE’
By Jeff Jacoby
Jewish World Review
September 7, 2010
Talia and Yitzhak Ames met as students at Moscow University, as they waited in line one day to register for their classes. They got married in 1985, and had two children by the time they emigrated to Israel in 1991. Four more children followed in the next 19 years, and Talia was nine months pregnant with their seventh when she and Yitzhak were murdered by Palestinian terrorists last week.
The killers ambushed them as they were driving home Tuesday night, heading south on Highway 60 toward Beit Haggai in the Hebron Hills. With Talia and Yitzhak in the car when the killers opened fire were two other residents of Beit Haggai: Avishai Schindler, a newly-married yeshiva student, and Kochava Even-Haim, a nursery school teacher and the mother of an 8-year-old daughter. Kochava's husband Maimon, an emergency-aid volunteer, was one of the first responders to arrive at the scene, unaware that he would find his wife among the dead. All of the victims were shot repeatedly at close range, and the car was riddled with dozens of bullets.
Hamas, a terrorist organization whose charter extols the murder of Jews, promptly claimed responsibility for the massacre, describing it as "part of the repelling operations against the occupation assaults on Gaza Strip and West Bank." In Hamas-controlled Gaza, the bloodshed was celebrated; the news was broadcast from loudspeakers and there was a "victory" rally in the Jebaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Authority, headed by Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, issued a tepid statement condemning the Hamas "operation" -- not because the slaughter of innocent civilians is a brutal atrocity, but merely on the tactical grounds that it "contradicts Palestinian interests" by making it more difficult for "the Palestinian leadership to garner international support."
The killings on Highway 60 took place as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was en route to Washington for a new round of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. When word of the bloodbath reached him, he could have cancelled the talks and immediately returned home to attend the victims' funerals and focus on restoring security. But he declined to alter his itinerary. "We are committed to peace," his spokesman said. His position didn't change even after a second attack along the same highway Wednesday night, when terrorists opened fire on an Israeli car, wounding a young rabbi and his wife.
A persistent myth of the Arab-Israeli conflict is that Palestinian terrorists kill Jews in order to "disrupt the peace process," and that the best response to terrorism is to persevere with negotiations. That explanation for last week's carnage was repeated everywhere, from the White House ("This brutal attack underscores how far the enemies of peace will go to try to block progress") to Israel's opposition leader Tzipi Livni ("[the terrorists had a] "cold, political motive: to prevent the peace process") to the international media.
But far from opposing a "peace process" meant to push Israel into ever-deeper concessions, retreats, and self-endangerment, terrorists -- whether affiliated with Hamas or with Fatah -- seek to accelerate it. The two Palestinian factions may be at war with each other, but they have always been as one in rejecting Israel's existence as the sovereign state of the Jewish people. So long as they refuse to budge from that position, Israeli-Palestinian peace is impossible.
Yet rather than say so forthrightly, Israeli leaders keep insisting that diplomacy can end the conflict, and that they are prepared to sacrifice greatly for peace. It was once Israel's policy never to bargain with terrorists, and to pursue peace through deterrence and patience and strength. But with the advent of the Oslo Accord, deterrence gave way to appeasement, negotiations, and a yearning for peace at any price. To both Fatah and Hamas, that desperation has made the Jewish state seem weak -- and vulnerable to further pressure. In an opinion survey released last week, 55 percent of Palestinians endorsed anti-Israel violence as "essential" or "desirable," while less than 14 percent called it "unacceptable." "Israel's very pursuit of peace," journalist Evelyn Gordon wrote in Commentary earlier this year, "has spurred its enemies to go for the jugular."
Netanyahu should have walked away from the table after last week's butchery. Instead, he publicly anointed Abbas "my partner for peace" and reasserted his commitment to negotiations. When those negotiations fail, as they inevitably will, the impasse will be blamed on the insufficiency of Israel's concessions. That will further enrage its enemies, some of whom will turn to terror.
And so the peace process proceeds. The victims on Highway 60 were only the latest of Israel's "sacrifices for peace." They are not likely to be the last.
VICTIMS ON THE ROAD TO ‘PEACE’
By Jeff Jacoby
Jewish World Review
September 7, 2010
Talia and Yitzhak Ames met as students at Moscow University, as they waited in line one day to register for their classes. They got married in 1985, and had two children by the time they emigrated to Israel in 1991. Four more children followed in the next 19 years, and Talia was nine months pregnant with their seventh when she and Yitzhak were murdered by Palestinian terrorists last week.
The killers ambushed them as they were driving home Tuesday night, heading south on Highway 60 toward Beit Haggai in the Hebron Hills. With Talia and Yitzhak in the car when the killers opened fire were two other residents of Beit Haggai: Avishai Schindler, a newly-married yeshiva student, and Kochava Even-Haim, a nursery school teacher and the mother of an 8-year-old daughter. Kochava's husband Maimon, an emergency-aid volunteer, was one of the first responders to arrive at the scene, unaware that he would find his wife among the dead. All of the victims were shot repeatedly at close range, and the car was riddled with dozens of bullets.
Hamas, a terrorist organization whose charter extols the murder of Jews, promptly claimed responsibility for the massacre, describing it as "part of the repelling operations against the occupation assaults on Gaza Strip and West Bank." In Hamas-controlled Gaza, the bloodshed was celebrated; the news was broadcast from loudspeakers and there was a "victory" rally in the Jebaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Authority, headed by Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, issued a tepid statement condemning the Hamas "operation" -- not because the slaughter of innocent civilians is a brutal atrocity, but merely on the tactical grounds that it "contradicts Palestinian interests" by making it more difficult for "the Palestinian leadership to garner international support."
The killings on Highway 60 took place as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was en route to Washington for a new round of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. When word of the bloodbath reached him, he could have cancelled the talks and immediately returned home to attend the victims' funerals and focus on restoring security. But he declined to alter his itinerary. "We are committed to peace," his spokesman said. His position didn't change even after a second attack along the same highway Wednesday night, when terrorists opened fire on an Israeli car, wounding a young rabbi and his wife.
A persistent myth of the Arab-Israeli conflict is that Palestinian terrorists kill Jews in order to "disrupt the peace process," and that the best response to terrorism is to persevere with negotiations. That explanation for last week's carnage was repeated everywhere, from the White House ("This brutal attack underscores how far the enemies of peace will go to try to block progress") to Israel's opposition leader Tzipi Livni ("[the terrorists had a] "cold, political motive: to prevent the peace process") to the international media.
But far from opposing a "peace process" meant to push Israel into ever-deeper concessions, retreats, and self-endangerment, terrorists -- whether affiliated with Hamas or with Fatah -- seek to accelerate it. The two Palestinian factions may be at war with each other, but they have always been as one in rejecting Israel's existence as the sovereign state of the Jewish people. So long as they refuse to budge from that position, Israeli-Palestinian peace is impossible.
Yet rather than say so forthrightly, Israeli leaders keep insisting that diplomacy can end the conflict, and that they are prepared to sacrifice greatly for peace. It was once Israel's policy never to bargain with terrorists, and to pursue peace through deterrence and patience and strength. But with the advent of the Oslo Accord, deterrence gave way to appeasement, negotiations, and a yearning for peace at any price. To both Fatah and Hamas, that desperation has made the Jewish state seem weak -- and vulnerable to further pressure. In an opinion survey released last week, 55 percent of Palestinians endorsed anti-Israel violence as "essential" or "desirable," while less than 14 percent called it "unacceptable." "Israel's very pursuit of peace," journalist Evelyn Gordon wrote in Commentary earlier this year, "has spurred its enemies to go for the jugular."
Netanyahu should have walked away from the table after last week's butchery. Instead, he publicly anointed Abbas "my partner for peace" and reasserted his commitment to negotiations. When those negotiations fail, as they inevitably will, the impasse will be blamed on the insufficiency of Israel's concessions. That will further enrage its enemies, some of whom will turn to terror.
And so the peace process proceeds. The victims on Highway 60 were only the latest of Israel's "sacrifices for peace." They are not likely to be the last.
IN EAST TEXAS, IT'S NOT BEDBUGS
Hmmmm, looks like Al-Qaeda has unleashed another biological weapon of mass destruction against the Great Satan - this time though not in New York, Philadelphia and Detroit, but in the piney woods of East Texas. This time it’s not the Bedbug Bomber, it’s the Flea Bomber.
RICKY PENSON: PLEASE ENTER YOUR GUILTY FLEA
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 6, 2010
Just like many a mother has warned, if you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas. A Lufkin man recently learned that lesson, and what's more, he's sharing it with the police force of that honky-tonking little East Texas city whether they like it or not.
Around midnight September 2 police were called and told that 58-year-old Rickey DeWayne Penson was trespassing near a home on Lufkin's Culverhouse Street. Penson was on probation for a crack bust last summer, and what's more, was formally enjoined from being at or near the home on Culverhouse Street.
When police arrived on the scene, Penson attempted to um, flee, but was unable to get very far, so instead he chose to crawl under the house. Unfortunately for him, not to mention a few unwitting police, the crawl space was home to some flea-infested varmints, and the parasites leapt at the opportunity afforded by a bigger host.
By the time Penson was finally cajoled out from under the house, he was infested with the bloodsuckers. And by the time he made it downtown to Lufkin's jail, the entire back-seat of the police cruiser was likewise Flea City.
And it didn't end there.
Before he knew what hit him, the arresting officer was also infested, and somehow he managed to spread the plague of leaping pests to four more police cars.
Apparently, this is not an unusual occurrence: Lufkin police Lt. David Young told TV station KTRE that the department already had the necessary fumigants on hand, as a similar infestation had occurred only last week.
RICKY PENSON: PLEASE ENTER YOUR GUILTY FLEA
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 6, 2010
Just like many a mother has warned, if you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas. A Lufkin man recently learned that lesson, and what's more, he's sharing it with the police force of that honky-tonking little East Texas city whether they like it or not.
Around midnight September 2 police were called and told that 58-year-old Rickey DeWayne Penson was trespassing near a home on Lufkin's Culverhouse Street. Penson was on probation for a crack bust last summer, and what's more, was formally enjoined from being at or near the home on Culverhouse Street.
When police arrived on the scene, Penson attempted to um, flee, but was unable to get very far, so instead he chose to crawl under the house. Unfortunately for him, not to mention a few unwitting police, the crawl space was home to some flea-infested varmints, and the parasites leapt at the opportunity afforded by a bigger host.
By the time Penson was finally cajoled out from under the house, he was infested with the bloodsuckers. And by the time he made it downtown to Lufkin's jail, the entire back-seat of the police cruiser was likewise Flea City.
And it didn't end there.
Before he knew what hit him, the arresting officer was also infested, and somehow he managed to spread the plague of leaping pests to four more police cars.
Apparently, this is not an unusual occurrence: Lufkin police Lt. David Young told TV station KTRE that the department already had the necessary fumigants on hand, as a similar infestation had occurred only last week.
THE FAMILY THAT FISHES TOGETHER ..........
The family that plays together, stays together. So much for that crap.
SOME PEOPLE TAKE FISHING TOO SERIOUSLY
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 6, 2010
A Livermore man is currently a guest of the county at Santa Rita after a late night fishing trip got a little tense.
Gary Gomez, 42, took his wife and 14-year old son on a late night fishing trip on Bethany reservoir Sunday night. Two of the young man’s friends went along. About 2:00 a.m. on of the son’s buddies decided he had to go home, which pissed off daddy. It turned into a fist fight, which turned into a fist vs knife fight, which the 14-year old lost because he didn’t have a knife. Daddy shanked his son 11 times. The wife was also stabbed when she tried to break up the fight. He also punctured a tire on the family van when mom tried to drive away.
Gomez was arrested on charges of attempted murder and child endangerment. The boy will be fine, at least as far as the injuries are concerned. As far as the rest is concerned, that’s questionable.
SOME PEOPLE TAKE FISHING TOO SERIOUSLY
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 6, 2010
A Livermore man is currently a guest of the county at Santa Rita after a late night fishing trip got a little tense.
Gary Gomez, 42, took his wife and 14-year old son on a late night fishing trip on Bethany reservoir Sunday night. Two of the young man’s friends went along. About 2:00 a.m. on of the son’s buddies decided he had to go home, which pissed off daddy. It turned into a fist fight, which turned into a fist vs knife fight, which the 14-year old lost because he didn’t have a knife. Daddy shanked his son 11 times. The wife was also stabbed when she tried to break up the fight. He also punctured a tire on the family van when mom tried to drive away.
Gomez was arrested on charges of attempted murder and child endangerment. The boy will be fine, at least as far as the injuries are concerned. As far as the rest is concerned, that’s questionable.
THEY HELPED HIM DROP HIS WEAPON
LA, get ready for a big lawsuit. The family will excoriate the officers for not just shooting the gun out of their beloved one’s hand and for not tasering him. Of course, had the officers only used a taser, they would have been sued for that too.
ROCK, PAPER, SISSORS, KNIFE GUN
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 6, 2010
An as yet unnamed dangerous crazy found out yesterday that a gun often beats a knife, especially if there is only one of you with the knife and there are several people with guns.
A man was seen brandishing a toad sticker in a crowded shopping area in beautiful downtown L.A. yesterday afternoon. Three LAPD bicycle officers approached and ordered him to drop his weapon. He refused. They helped him. He didn’t survive the lesson. That’s life (and death) in the big city.
ROCK, PAPER, SISSORS, KNIFE GUN
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 6, 2010
An as yet unnamed dangerous crazy found out yesterday that a gun often beats a knife, especially if there is only one of you with the knife and there are several people with guns.
A man was seen brandishing a toad sticker in a crowded shopping area in beautiful downtown L.A. yesterday afternoon. Three LAPD bicycle officers approached and ordered him to drop his weapon. He refused. They helped him. He didn’t survive the lesson. That’s life (and death) in the big city.
Monday, September 06, 2010
KOOKFORNIA DOES THIS ONE RIGHT
The Kookfornia lottery has its own investigators to make sure the public does not get cheated out of their winnings. Undercover agents are sent into different stores with lottery tickets made up especially for their investigation. Each winning ticket is worth $1000. The "customer" (the agent) will hand the clerks several tickets to scan. While the tickets are being scanned, the agent will pretend to do some shopping. The clerk is completely unaware that the "customer" knew that one of the tickets was worth $1000.
The undercover agents find that a substantial number of clerks will tell them there were no winners among the tickets. After the investigator has left, those clerks will cash the winning tickets in or have a friend do it for them. When caught, the thieving clerks will face jail time and a fine. The stores which employed those thieves lose their license to sell lottery tickets.
The investigators have also caught some clerks buying the winning tickets for less than they were worth. Some customers are willing to sell their winning tickets for less – for example, $650 for a $1000 ticket – to keep the government from taking money out of their winnings to pay for delinquent child support obligations or for back taxes.
When Dateline NBC informed the New York State Lottery that it was going to conduct a similar investigation in that state, lottery officials immediately printed a prominent warning on each ticket that NBC was trying to catch clerks stealing winning tickets. When confronted about the printed warning, the state lottery director shouted that he was not going to allow NBC to make a ‘reality show’ out of New York’s lottery.
While Kookfornia may be full of kooks, it goes the extra mile in trying to protect the buying public. Each state agency or commission has its own investigators to ferret out wrongdoing. On the other hand, the New York State Lottery director has proven that the Empire State is full of crooks. I’ll take the kooks over the crooks anytime!
The undercover agents find that a substantial number of clerks will tell them there were no winners among the tickets. After the investigator has left, those clerks will cash the winning tickets in or have a friend do it for them. When caught, the thieving clerks will face jail time and a fine. The stores which employed those thieves lose their license to sell lottery tickets.
The investigators have also caught some clerks buying the winning tickets for less than they were worth. Some customers are willing to sell their winning tickets for less – for example, $650 for a $1000 ticket – to keep the government from taking money out of their winnings to pay for delinquent child support obligations or for back taxes.
When Dateline NBC informed the New York State Lottery that it was going to conduct a similar investigation in that state, lottery officials immediately printed a prominent warning on each ticket that NBC was trying to catch clerks stealing winning tickets. When confronted about the printed warning, the state lottery director shouted that he was not going to allow NBC to make a ‘reality show’ out of New York’s lottery.
While Kookfornia may be full of kooks, it goes the extra mile in trying to protect the buying public. Each state agency or commission has its own investigators to ferret out wrongdoing. On the other hand, the New York State Lottery director has proven that the Empire State is full of crooks. I’ll take the kooks over the crooks anytime!
EUROPE RIPE FOR ISLAMIZATION, AMERICA NOT YET
In the wake of the Ground Zero Mosque brouhaha, Muslims have begun a public relations campaign by running some TV ads designed to assure Americans that they are not trying to foster their religion on us and that they do not have any designs on our country. That has not been the case in Europe. So what’s the difference between America and Europe?
American Muslims are by and large well educated and enjoy a middle or upper class life style. There has been a steady flow of legal Muslim immigrants, but that flow has involved relatively small numbers. Like America’s Jews, Muslims in this country have succeeded through hard work and higher education. Except for some of their religious customs, they have assimilated into our society and adopted our way of life.
Europe, on the other hand, has been flooded with a wave of Muslim immigrants. These Muslims are uneducated and unskilled. They live in close-knit slums and refuse to assimilate into European society. By and large, they are fundamentalist Muslims who, contrary to local laws, practice a strict code of Sharia (Islamic law). These true believers are under the sway of Wahhabi imams who preach from the many mosques that have sprung up throughout Europe.
While the non-Muslim birthrate in Europe has been in a steady decline, the birthrate among Europe’s Muslims is extremely high. At this rate, it will not be too long before the Muslim population of Europe will be dominant. The Islamization of Europe is well under way. Muslims have been successful in getting some of their host countries to recognize the practice of Sharia.
Europe's Muslims have also forced changes to the curricula of several public school systems, changes that reflect their religious and political beliefs. The future looks more and more like the EU will disappear to be replaced by the European Islamic Union.
America cannot rest on its laurels. Like Europe, we too have a declining birthrate. The number of mosques in this country is growing rapidly and many are being financed by Saudi Arabia and run by Wahhabi imams. More and more American Muslims are becoming Islamists.
Just take a look at Detroit. The 'Motor City' has become a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism where Muslims, who now make up one-third of the city's population, have disassimilated themselves from the rest of society. And that means the Isalamization of America is already under way.
American Muslims are by and large well educated and enjoy a middle or upper class life style. There has been a steady flow of legal Muslim immigrants, but that flow has involved relatively small numbers. Like America’s Jews, Muslims in this country have succeeded through hard work and higher education. Except for some of their religious customs, they have assimilated into our society and adopted our way of life.
Europe, on the other hand, has been flooded with a wave of Muslim immigrants. These Muslims are uneducated and unskilled. They live in close-knit slums and refuse to assimilate into European society. By and large, they are fundamentalist Muslims who, contrary to local laws, practice a strict code of Sharia (Islamic law). These true believers are under the sway of Wahhabi imams who preach from the many mosques that have sprung up throughout Europe.
While the non-Muslim birthrate in Europe has been in a steady decline, the birthrate among Europe’s Muslims is extremely high. At this rate, it will not be too long before the Muslim population of Europe will be dominant. The Islamization of Europe is well under way. Muslims have been successful in getting some of their host countries to recognize the practice of Sharia.
Europe's Muslims have also forced changes to the curricula of several public school systems, changes that reflect their religious and political beliefs. The future looks more and more like the EU will disappear to be replaced by the European Islamic Union.
America cannot rest on its laurels. Like Europe, we too have a declining birthrate. The number of mosques in this country is growing rapidly and many are being financed by Saudi Arabia and run by Wahhabi imams. More and more American Muslims are becoming Islamists.
Just take a look at Detroit. The 'Motor City' has become a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism where Muslims, who now make up one-third of the city's population, have disassimilated themselves from the rest of society. And that means the Isalamization of America is already under way.
SORRY, WRONG NUMBER
And they say pot doesn’t addle your brains.
HEY DAWG, DO YOU HAVE ANY POT? ER, NO, THIS IS THE SHERIFF AND YOU ARE BUSTED
Dopey teen caught in drugs sting after texting wrong number
Mail Online
September 4, 2010
It was the last number he should have contacted with a request for drugs - the local sheriff's mobile phone.
But that's exactly who a teenager mistakenly texted to ask for a bag of cannabis, and was the victim of sting operation shortly afterwards as a result.
The unnamed drug user sent the text to the Lewis and Clark County sheriff in Montana, U.S. after mis-dialling the telephone number of his dealer.
In it, he said: 'Hey Dawg, do you have a $20 I can buy right now?'
Initially fearing he was the subject of a wind-up, sheriff Leo Dutton was sceptical about the call, but quickly discovered the inquiry was real.
Sheriff Dutton said: 'I’m thinking, "Hey this is odd". I was looking around to see if there was someone outside my window playing a prank.'
However, he decided to play the part of the dealer and gathered more information by asking 'How much we talking?'
The teenager then wrote back, saying he was close to the dealer's home and wanted to complete the purchase.
Sheriff Dutton then saw the potential of intercepting the youngster, and contacted a detective from the Missouri River Drug Task Force who arranged to meet the teenager at a local business.
At the shop, the detective again phoned the teenager and when he saw a young man with another teenager and a man answer, he went over and showed his badge.
HEY DAWG, DO YOU HAVE ANY POT? ER, NO, THIS IS THE SHERIFF AND YOU ARE BUSTED
Dopey teen caught in drugs sting after texting wrong number
Mail Online
September 4, 2010
It was the last number he should have contacted with a request for drugs - the local sheriff's mobile phone.
But that's exactly who a teenager mistakenly texted to ask for a bag of cannabis, and was the victim of sting operation shortly afterwards as a result.
The unnamed drug user sent the text to the Lewis and Clark County sheriff in Montana, U.S. after mis-dialling the telephone number of his dealer.
In it, he said: 'Hey Dawg, do you have a $20 I can buy right now?'
Initially fearing he was the subject of a wind-up, sheriff Leo Dutton was sceptical about the call, but quickly discovered the inquiry was real.
Sheriff Dutton said: 'I’m thinking, "Hey this is odd". I was looking around to see if there was someone outside my window playing a prank.'
However, he decided to play the part of the dealer and gathered more information by asking 'How much we talking?'
The teenager then wrote back, saying he was close to the dealer's home and wanted to complete the purchase.
Sheriff Dutton then saw the potential of intercepting the youngster, and contacted a detective from the Missouri River Drug Task Force who arranged to meet the teenager at a local business.
At the shop, the detective again phoned the teenager and when he saw a young man with another teenager and a man answer, he went over and showed his badge.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
WHY HUMANS ARE THE MOST CRUEL OF ALL ANIMALS
The stupidity notwithstanding, a more appropriate title would have been, "How cruel do you have to be to do this?" Bob would castrate this piece of shit. I would also cut his tits off. And what about the rest of the family? They’re all demented.
HOW STUPID DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO DO THIS?
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 3, 2010
A lot of people commit crimes. A disturbing number video themselves doing so. Not that many do that, then post the video on their own Facebook page.
Carter Livingston, 19, had his little sister, age 15, take a video of him hacking a possum to death with a meat cleaver. It took 44 hits, so that should tell you something about young Mr. Livingston.
Livingston’s 16-year old brother helped hold the animal steady with a rope around its neck. Two other younger siblings, 8 and 9, watched. Livingston then posted the video.
To no great surprise for anybody with an IQ above room temperature, somebody thought it was grotesque and illegal and ratted him out to the humane society and the cops. The Nevada County S O is looking at the case, and has seized the cleaver and the dead possum (why would anybody keep a dead possum?) as evidence. Livingston has been charged with felony animal cruelty. He is looking at a year and a considerable fine.
Personally, I think they should castrate him. People that stupid shouldn’t be allowed to breed.
Clicking here will link to a San Diego Union Tribune story on this subject.
HOW STUPID DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO DO THIS?
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
September 3, 2010
A lot of people commit crimes. A disturbing number video themselves doing so. Not that many do that, then post the video on their own Facebook page.
Carter Livingston, 19, had his little sister, age 15, take a video of him hacking a possum to death with a meat cleaver. It took 44 hits, so that should tell you something about young Mr. Livingston.
Livingston’s 16-year old brother helped hold the animal steady with a rope around its neck. Two other younger siblings, 8 and 9, watched. Livingston then posted the video.
To no great surprise for anybody with an IQ above room temperature, somebody thought it was grotesque and illegal and ratted him out to the humane society and the cops. The Nevada County S O is looking at the case, and has seized the cleaver and the dead possum (why would anybody keep a dead possum?) as evidence. Livingston has been charged with felony animal cruelty. He is looking at a year and a considerable fine.
Personally, I think they should castrate him. People that stupid shouldn’t be allowed to breed.
Clicking here will link to a San Diego Union Tribune story on this subject.
SNAKES ON A PLANE
I can see why the bag burst open, but seven years in prison? Poor Mr. Wong was only trying to make a sequel of the movie.
SMUGGLER’S BAG BURSTS OPEN AT AIRPORT… TO REVEAL 95 LIVE SNAKES
Mail Online
September 3, 2010
A Malaysian man admitted wildlife smuggling after his bag bursting with 95 live boa constrictors broke open on a luggage conveyor belt at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Keng Liang 'Anson' Wong, 52, who was previously convicted of wildlife trafficking in the US, was charged on Wednesday in a district court with exporting the endangered boas without a permit, said Shamsuddin Osman of Malaysia's wildlife department.
The offence carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison and a fine.
Wong was arrested on August 26 after airport authorities found the boa constrictors, together with a few other snakes and a turtle, when his bag broke open on a luggage conveyor belt.
Wong was on his way from Malaysia's northern Penang state to Indonesia's capital Jakarta.
The court will reconvene on Monday pending Wong's appointment of a lawyer, Shamsuddin said.
He said the criminal charges involve the boas only, because the other animals are not listed as endangered. All of the animals are alive and under the care of wildlife officials, Mr Shamsuddin said.
A decade ago Wong was sentenced to almost six years in prison in the US for running an animal-smuggling ring that prosecutors said imported and sold more than 300 protected reptiles native to Asia and Africa from 1996 until Wong's arrest in Mexico in 1998. It is unclear whether he served the full term.
Activists say the illegal wildlife trade used to flourish in Malaysia until the country recently stepped up efforts to crack down on it.
In July parliament passed a new law to punish poachers and smugglers more severely, but the act has not yet taken effect.
SMUGGLER’S BAG BURSTS OPEN AT AIRPORT… TO REVEAL 95 LIVE SNAKES
Mail Online
September 3, 2010
A Malaysian man admitted wildlife smuggling after his bag bursting with 95 live boa constrictors broke open on a luggage conveyor belt at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Keng Liang 'Anson' Wong, 52, who was previously convicted of wildlife trafficking in the US, was charged on Wednesday in a district court with exporting the endangered boas without a permit, said Shamsuddin Osman of Malaysia's wildlife department.
The offence carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison and a fine.
Wong was arrested on August 26 after airport authorities found the boa constrictors, together with a few other snakes and a turtle, when his bag broke open on a luggage conveyor belt.
Wong was on his way from Malaysia's northern Penang state to Indonesia's capital Jakarta.
The court will reconvene on Monday pending Wong's appointment of a lawyer, Shamsuddin said.
He said the criminal charges involve the boas only, because the other animals are not listed as endangered. All of the animals are alive and under the care of wildlife officials, Mr Shamsuddin said.
A decade ago Wong was sentenced to almost six years in prison in the US for running an animal-smuggling ring that prosecutors said imported and sold more than 300 protected reptiles native to Asia and Africa from 1996 until Wong's arrest in Mexico in 1998. It is unclear whether he served the full term.
Activists say the illegal wildlife trade used to flourish in Malaysia until the country recently stepped up efforts to crack down on it.
In July parliament passed a new law to punish poachers and smugglers more severely, but the act has not yet taken effect.
BUT OFFICER, WE WERE JUST HAVING A LITTLE FUN
There’s something terribly wrong with the law when they won’t reveal the identity of these murderers "because they are minors." Holy shit, they don’t need to be protected - we need to be protected from them!
YOUNGSTERS WILL FACE CAPITAL MURDER CHARGES
The 12- and 13-year-old are accused in the shooting deaths of Garland couple
By Linda Stewart Ball
Associated Press
September 3, 2010
DALLAS — A 13-year-old boy and his 12-year-old girlfriend will soon face capital murder charges in a Dallas-area double shooting after the second victim died, authorities said Friday.
Alan Nevil, 48, died Thursday night from wounds he suffered in an Aug. 17 attack that also killed his wife, Darlene Nevil, 46, Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said.
Alan Nevil was found bleeding on a neighbor's front yard. He told police who shot him, and authorities arrested the 13-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl within a quarter of a mile from the house, Harn said.
The children initially were charged with murder and aggravated assault in the shooting. Garland police said Friday in a statement they were working with the Dallas County District Attorney's office to upgrade those charges to capital murder.
For adults, the maximum sentence range is life in prison or death, in a capital murder case. But for juveniles, the maximum penalty is 40 years confinement in a Texas Youth Commission facility with a possible transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Durrand Hill, the head prosecutor in Dallas County's juvenile division.
At age 19, a juvenile could also be released from TYC on adult parole if they've been rehabilitated, he said.
"Homicide cases make up a very small percentage, less than 1 percent of the cases we prosecute in juvenile court," Hill said. "We're not seeking certification (as an adult) on this case. The law would not allow it."
A child must be at least 14 years old to stand trial as an adult, said Hill.
Hill said he anticipated that the upgraded capital murder charges against the youths would "happen very quickly," though he declined to speak in specifics about their case.
Police have declined to identify the children or reveal their relationship to the Nevils because they are minors.
They remain in custody at the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center.
YOUNGSTERS WILL FACE CAPITAL MURDER CHARGES
The 12- and 13-year-old are accused in the shooting deaths of Garland couple
By Linda Stewart Ball
Associated Press
September 3, 2010
DALLAS — A 13-year-old boy and his 12-year-old girlfriend will soon face capital murder charges in a Dallas-area double shooting after the second victim died, authorities said Friday.
Alan Nevil, 48, died Thursday night from wounds he suffered in an Aug. 17 attack that also killed his wife, Darlene Nevil, 46, Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said.
Alan Nevil was found bleeding on a neighbor's front yard. He told police who shot him, and authorities arrested the 13-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl within a quarter of a mile from the house, Harn said.
The children initially were charged with murder and aggravated assault in the shooting. Garland police said Friday in a statement they were working with the Dallas County District Attorney's office to upgrade those charges to capital murder.
For adults, the maximum sentence range is life in prison or death, in a capital murder case. But for juveniles, the maximum penalty is 40 years confinement in a Texas Youth Commission facility with a possible transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Durrand Hill, the head prosecutor in Dallas County's juvenile division.
At age 19, a juvenile could also be released from TYC on adult parole if they've been rehabilitated, he said.
"Homicide cases make up a very small percentage, less than 1 percent of the cases we prosecute in juvenile court," Hill said. "We're not seeking certification (as an adult) on this case. The law would not allow it."
A child must be at least 14 years old to stand trial as an adult, said Hill.
Hill said he anticipated that the upgraded capital murder charges against the youths would "happen very quickly," though he declined to speak in specifics about their case.
Police have declined to identify the children or reveal their relationship to the Nevils because they are minors.
They remain in custody at the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
WHY I LOVE TEXAS
FIVE REASONS LABOR DAY MEANS NEXT TO NOTHING IN TEXAS
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 3, 2010
Labor Day weekend is almost upon us -- we can see you glancing at the clock, you know -- and lots of celebrations and events are planned.
It's great to have a long weekend, but whoever made Labor Day didn't have Texas in mind. Five reasons why:
1. IT SOUNDS VAGUELY COMMUNISTIC.
We don't cotton to such things. Why don't you just celebrate your May Day and be done with it? It also has echoes of "organized labor," and that phrase brings shudders to every self-respecting Texas businessman. If God had intended for labor to organize, He wouldn't have invented Texas businessmen.
2. SCHOOL'S ALREADY STARTED.
We start in mid-August here, due to the "Use More A/C Act" of 1975. Public utilities convinced everyone that education would improve greatly if electricity bills were higher.
3. SUMMER'S NOT OVER.
On the other hand, even if the Texas school year started in mid-October, they'd still be blasting the a/c. We get it, northerners: By the time Labor Day rolls around, the nights are getting a little chill to them and a melancholy feeling has begun to count down the last few remaining days of summer. Here in God's Country, we'll still be hitting highs of 94 for another month or so.
4. IF WE WANTED TO CELEBRATE A SEPTEMBER HOLIDAY, IT WOULD BE ON THE 24TH.
Why? Of course you don't know why. You don't live near the Texas Gulf Coast. If we can get to the 24th without a hurricane, we are good and clear for the rest of the year. That's something to celebrate, unlike your nice little "workmen's holiday."
5. WE GRILL ALL THE TIME HERE.
Up north, Labor Day is the last great chance to barbecue before the grill is put into storage. Wimps. Here we grill all year long. There may be a couple of winter days when you'd rather not go outside, but even then you can man up and throw on a jacket. Think of all the carcinogens you're missing, Yankees!!
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 3, 2010
Labor Day weekend is almost upon us -- we can see you glancing at the clock, you know -- and lots of celebrations and events are planned.
It's great to have a long weekend, but whoever made Labor Day didn't have Texas in mind. Five reasons why:
1. IT SOUNDS VAGUELY COMMUNISTIC.
We don't cotton to such things. Why don't you just celebrate your May Day and be done with it? It also has echoes of "organized labor," and that phrase brings shudders to every self-respecting Texas businessman. If God had intended for labor to organize, He wouldn't have invented Texas businessmen.
2. SCHOOL'S ALREADY STARTED.
We start in mid-August here, due to the "Use More A/C Act" of 1975. Public utilities convinced everyone that education would improve greatly if electricity bills were higher.
3. SUMMER'S NOT OVER.
On the other hand, even if the Texas school year started in mid-October, they'd still be blasting the a/c. We get it, northerners: By the time Labor Day rolls around, the nights are getting a little chill to them and a melancholy feeling has begun to count down the last few remaining days of summer. Here in God's Country, we'll still be hitting highs of 94 for another month or so.
4. IF WE WANTED TO CELEBRATE A SEPTEMBER HOLIDAY, IT WOULD BE ON THE 24TH.
Why? Of course you don't know why. You don't live near the Texas Gulf Coast. If we can get to the 24th without a hurricane, we are good and clear for the rest of the year. That's something to celebrate, unlike your nice little "workmen's holiday."
5. WE GRILL ALL THE TIME HERE.
Up north, Labor Day is the last great chance to barbecue before the grill is put into storage. Wimps. Here we grill all year long. There may be a couple of winter days when you'd rather not go outside, but even then you can man up and throw on a jacket. Think of all the carcinogens you're missing, Yankees!!
NO PEACE UNTIL THE ZIONIST ENTITY IS ELIMINATED AND PALESTINE IS LIBERATED
Obama and the ‘international community’ seem oblivious to the reality that the Palestinians continue to vow there can be no peace "until the Zionist entity is eliminated and Palestine is liberated."
Here are some excerpts from "Why These Talks Are Doomed" by Mona Charen, a column in Jewish World Review (9-3-10):
In the course of the past few months, the PA has named a square and a children's summer camp in honor of a terrorist who murdered 37 Israeli civilians on a bus, and provided a hero's funeral to Amin al-Hindi, one of the planners of the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. The official PA newspaper described al-Hindi as "one of the stars ... who sparkled at the sports stadium in Munich." Both Mahmoud Abbas and [Prime Minister] Fayyad attended the funeral.
The entire Arab world (and Iran) has conspired to embitter and enrage the Palestinians in perpetuity, encouraging maximalist demands and enshrining bloodshed and frenzied hatred.
Though Abbas has shaken hands all around in Washington, D.C., the incitement at home continues. A year ago, at Fatah's general congress in Bethlehem, the delegates reaffirmed their longstanding commitment to "armed struggle" as "a strategy, not a tactic ... This struggle will not stop until the Zionist entity is eliminated and Palestine is liberated."
Just this week, the Palestinian Authority's minister for prisoners affairs presented an award called the Shield of Resoluteness and Giving to Um Yousuf Abu Hamid. Her accomplishment? Four of her sons are serving long sentences in Israeli prisons for committing terrorist attacks. Handing her the plaque, the minister intoned, "The Palestinian mother is a central partner in the struggle, by virtue of what she has given and continues to give. It is she who gave birth to the fighters, and she deserves that we bow to her in salute and in honor."
A Palestinian children's television program instructs its viewers that all Israeli cities - including Haifa, Lod, Ramle, and Acre — are "occupied Palestinian" cities. Another show aimed at children, which often dispenses advice like "drink your milk" and "obey your parents," also advised a young viewer named Saraa that "all Jews must be erased from our land ... "We want to slaughter them, Saraa, so they will be expelled from our land ... we'll have to (do it) by slaughter."
This latest iteration of Israeli/Palestinian peace talks midwived by the U.S. is doomed just as all of its predecessors were - because it is based on a fallacy and a stubborn refusal to face the truth about Palestinian society.
Here are some excerpts from "Why These Talks Are Doomed" by Mona Charen, a column in Jewish World Review (9-3-10):
In the course of the past few months, the PA has named a square and a children's summer camp in honor of a terrorist who murdered 37 Israeli civilians on a bus, and provided a hero's funeral to Amin al-Hindi, one of the planners of the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. The official PA newspaper described al-Hindi as "one of the stars ... who sparkled at the sports stadium in Munich." Both Mahmoud Abbas and [Prime Minister] Fayyad attended the funeral.
The entire Arab world (and Iran) has conspired to embitter and enrage the Palestinians in perpetuity, encouraging maximalist demands and enshrining bloodshed and frenzied hatred.
Though Abbas has shaken hands all around in Washington, D.C., the incitement at home continues. A year ago, at Fatah's general congress in Bethlehem, the delegates reaffirmed their longstanding commitment to "armed struggle" as "a strategy, not a tactic ... This struggle will not stop until the Zionist entity is eliminated and Palestine is liberated."
Just this week, the Palestinian Authority's minister for prisoners affairs presented an award called the Shield of Resoluteness and Giving to Um Yousuf Abu Hamid. Her accomplishment? Four of her sons are serving long sentences in Israeli prisons for committing terrorist attacks. Handing her the plaque, the minister intoned, "The Palestinian mother is a central partner in the struggle, by virtue of what she has given and continues to give. It is she who gave birth to the fighters, and she deserves that we bow to her in salute and in honor."
A Palestinian children's television program instructs its viewers that all Israeli cities - including Haifa, Lod, Ramle, and Acre — are "occupied Palestinian" cities. Another show aimed at children, which often dispenses advice like "drink your milk" and "obey your parents," also advised a young viewer named Saraa that "all Jews must be erased from our land ... "We want to slaughter them, Saraa, so they will be expelled from our land ... we'll have to (do it) by slaughter."
This latest iteration of Israeli/Palestinian peace talks midwived by the U.S. is doomed just as all of its predecessors were - because it is based on a fallacy and a stubborn refusal to face the truth about Palestinian society.
THE PLANET DOES NOT NEED HUMANS
Al Gore’s global warming film, "An Inconvenient Truth," drove him bonkers.
LEFT-WING NUTCASE
By Monica Crowley
Politicalmavens.com
September 3, 2010
An environmental militant named James Lee stormed the building housing the Discovery Channel, armed with explosives, and took several people hostage. After a standoff, police shot and killed the man and the hostages were freed unharmed.
He had been a militant environmentalist for a while, posting his environmental and population-control demands online in something of a "manifesto." In it, he wrote:
"I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new program lineup and I want proof they are doing so. I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it," the alleged manifesto reads, adding:
"Nothing is more important than saving … the Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels. The humans? The planet does not need humans."
Saving the beetles?
The world does not need humans?
Well, today the world has one less human. Maybe Mr. Lee thought he was doing his environmental duty.
He also luxuriated in Al Gore’s hysterical environmental tall tale, "An Inconvenient Truth," claiming he experienced an "awakening" when he saw it.
Press reaction was interesting: THERE WASN’T ANY. No reports that this was a FAR-LEFT wacko with an extreme liberal agenda. You just know that the lamestream media was dying—dying!—to report that this was a Tea Party guy who forced himself into the building with guns blazing.
But because it was a Far-Left nut, the lamestream media is as quiet as a church mouse.
LEFT-WING NUTCASE
By Monica Crowley
Politicalmavens.com
September 3, 2010
An environmental militant named James Lee stormed the building housing the Discovery Channel, armed with explosives, and took several people hostage. After a standoff, police shot and killed the man and the hostages were freed unharmed.
He had been a militant environmentalist for a while, posting his environmental and population-control demands online in something of a "manifesto." In it, he wrote:
"I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new program lineup and I want proof they are doing so. I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it," the alleged manifesto reads, adding:
"Nothing is more important than saving … the Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels. The humans? The planet does not need humans."
Saving the beetles?
The world does not need humans?
Well, today the world has one less human. Maybe Mr. Lee thought he was doing his environmental duty.
He also luxuriated in Al Gore’s hysterical environmental tall tale, "An Inconvenient Truth," claiming he experienced an "awakening" when he saw it.
Press reaction was interesting: THERE WASN’T ANY. No reports that this was a FAR-LEFT wacko with an extreme liberal agenda. You just know that the lamestream media was dying—dying!—to report that this was a Tea Party guy who forced himself into the building with guns blazing.
But because it was a Far-Left nut, the lamestream media is as quiet as a church mouse.
Friday, September 03, 2010
BLAME BUSH
Fred fucked up my bedbug joke [TERRORIST ARRESTED FOR UNLEASHING WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION AGAINST THE GREAT SATAN (9-1-10)] with these comments:
Let's take a moment on this day that President Obama declares an end to military action, to remember what George W. Bush's "comma" looks like:
4,420 Number of American soldiers killed
31,926 Number of American soldiers wounded
100,000 Number of Iraqi citizens killed
2,255,000 Number of Iraqi citizens displaced
$900 Billion Cost of Iraq war as of July 2010
0 Number of weapons of mass destruction found
0 Number of mobile biological labs found
0 Number of canisters of Anthraz [sic] found
0 Number of canisters of biological weapons found
So as we thank our soldiers for their sacrifice and welcome them home, let's remember those that were killed, wounded, and their families, as we also remember George Bush's comma.
Here was my response:
__You forgot to blame Bush for the bedbugs! And why not blame him for the record heat, BP (might as well call it Bush Petroleum), Hurricane Earle, the volcanic eruption in Indonesia, etc.?
One thing that really frosts me about Fred’s 'Bush-Bashing' is that he lists the numbers of our troops killed and wounded during the Iraq War in an obvious attempt to hold the former president personally responsible for their deaths and wounds. Blaming Bush for these casualties of war when a Democrat controlled congress voted for and funded this war is just plain downright lowdown!
I am fully aware of what a great personal loss and deep impact the families of our fallen soldiers experience. Shit, two dear friends, Frank and Jeannine Miller - both former Houston police officers – tragically lost their only son, a 19-year-old third-generation Marine, when Ryan was killed in action while on patrol in Barwanah, Iraq.
Be that as it may, every one of our troops in Iraq volunteered to serve in our armed forces. They weren’t drafted and they knew they weren’t signing up for the Boy Scouts or the Salvation Army. Our armed forces, as well as those of any other country, are trained and exist to wage war – to kill or to be killed. Whether or not we should have gone to war with Iraq is really irrelevant.
The Iraq War lasted seven years. Let’s put our losses in perspective by comparing the Iraq War to a single battle in World War II.
The battle of Iwo Jima, a small Pacific island defended by some 22,000 Japanese soldiers, lasted 35 days, starting on February 19,1945 and ending on March 25, 1945. During those 35 days, 6, 821 Americans were killed and 19,217 were wounded. 2,400 Marines were killed on the very first day, including two of my high school buddies.
4,420 killed during seven years. 6,821 killed in 35 days. 31,926 wounded during seven years. 19,217 wounded in 35 days. While I do not mean to minimize our casualties in Iraq, I will have to say that our losses over a seven-year period were quite low.
Now let me get back to Fred’s smear of Bush. Even Oliver Stone, in his 2008 film "W", did not trash Bush the way Fred and his fellow Democrats continue to do. Fred's comments started a back-and-forth discourse between my conservative friends and this ‘yellow dog’ Democrat. My question is: How much longer are the Democrats and Obama going to keep on blaming Bush for everything imaginable. While I can find significant fault with his presidency, WHAT I BLAME BUSH MOST FOR IS OBAMA!
Let's take a moment on this day that President Obama declares an end to military action, to remember what George W. Bush's "comma" looks like:
4,420 Number of American soldiers killed
31,926 Number of American soldiers wounded
100,000 Number of Iraqi citizens killed
2,255,000 Number of Iraqi citizens displaced
$900 Billion Cost of Iraq war as of July 2010
0 Number of weapons of mass destruction found
0 Number of mobile biological labs found
0 Number of canisters of Anthraz [sic] found
0 Number of canisters of biological weapons found
So as we thank our soldiers for their sacrifice and welcome them home, let's remember those that were killed, wounded, and their families, as we also remember George Bush's comma.
Here was my response:
__You forgot to blame Bush for the bedbugs! And why not blame him for the record heat, BP (might as well call it Bush Petroleum), Hurricane Earle, the volcanic eruption in Indonesia, etc.?
One thing that really frosts me about Fred’s 'Bush-Bashing' is that he lists the numbers of our troops killed and wounded during the Iraq War in an obvious attempt to hold the former president personally responsible for their deaths and wounds. Blaming Bush for these casualties of war when a Democrat controlled congress voted for and funded this war is just plain downright lowdown!
I am fully aware of what a great personal loss and deep impact the families of our fallen soldiers experience. Shit, two dear friends, Frank and Jeannine Miller - both former Houston police officers – tragically lost their only son, a 19-year-old third-generation Marine, when Ryan was killed in action while on patrol in Barwanah, Iraq.
Be that as it may, every one of our troops in Iraq volunteered to serve in our armed forces. They weren’t drafted and they knew they weren’t signing up for the Boy Scouts or the Salvation Army. Our armed forces, as well as those of any other country, are trained and exist to wage war – to kill or to be killed. Whether or not we should have gone to war with Iraq is really irrelevant.
The Iraq War lasted seven years. Let’s put our losses in perspective by comparing the Iraq War to a single battle in World War II.
The battle of Iwo Jima, a small Pacific island defended by some 22,000 Japanese soldiers, lasted 35 days, starting on February 19,1945 and ending on March 25, 1945. During those 35 days, 6, 821 Americans were killed and 19,217 were wounded. 2,400 Marines were killed on the very first day, including two of my high school buddies.
4,420 killed during seven years. 6,821 killed in 35 days. 31,926 wounded during seven years. 19,217 wounded in 35 days. While I do not mean to minimize our casualties in Iraq, I will have to say that our losses over a seven-year period were quite low.
Now let me get back to Fred’s smear of Bush. Even Oliver Stone, in his 2008 film "W", did not trash Bush the way Fred and his fellow Democrats continue to do. Fred's comments started a back-and-forth discourse between my conservative friends and this ‘yellow dog’ Democrat. My question is: How much longer are the Democrats and Obama going to keep on blaming Bush for everything imaginable. While I can find significant fault with his presidency, WHAT I BLAME BUSH MOST FOR IS OBAMA!
AFGHANISTAN: A HISTORY OF DEATH AND VIOLENCE
Now that the Obama administration has ended the combat phase of the Iraq War, its next disengagement is the promised deadline of July 2011 to begin the drawdown of combat forces in Afghanistan. "Militancy and the U.S. Drawdown in Afghanistan" by Scott Stewart is a detailed analysis of that country’s insurgencies from Stratfor Global Intelligence (9-2-10). Stewart’s analysis is divided into (1) A Tradition of Militancy, (2) Foreign Influence, and (3) A History of Death and Violence.
Stewart’s analysis indicates that our strategy in Afghanistan is doomed to fail because that country is so dissimilar from Iraq. Here is the last section of his Stratfor Global Intelligence report:
It may seem counterintuitive, but following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the casualties from militancy in the country declined considerably. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies Armed Conflict Database, the fatalities due to armed conflict in Afghanistan fell from an estimated 10,000 a year prior to the invasion to 4,000 in 2002 and 1,000 by 2004. Even as the Taliban began to regroup in 2005 and the number of fatalities began to move upward, by 2009 (the last year for which the institute offers data) the total was only 7,140, still well-under the pre-invasion death tolls (though admittedly far greater than at the ebb of the insurgency in 2004).
Still, even with death tolls rising, the U.S. invasion has not produced anywhere near the estimated 1 million deaths that resulted during the Soviet occupation. The Soviets and their Afghan allies were not concerned about conducting a hearts-and-minds campaign. Indeed, their efforts were more akin to a scorched-earth strategy complete with attacks directed against the population. This strategy also resulted in millions of refugees fleeing Afghanistan for Pakistan and Iran and badly disrupted the tribal structure in much of Afghanistan. This massive disruption of the societal structure helped lead to a state of widespread anarchy that later led many Afghans to see the Taliban as saviors.
Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, the communist government in Kabul was able to survive for three more years, backed heavily with Soviet arms, but these years were again marked by heavy casualties. When the communist government fell in 1992, the warlords who had opposed the government attempted to form a power-sharing agreement to govern Afghanistan, but all the factions could not reach a consensus and another civil war broke out, this time among the various anti-communist Afghan warlords vying for control of the country. During this period, Kabul was repeatedly shelled and the bloodshed continued. Neither the Soviet departure nor the fall of the communist regime ended the carnage.
With the rise of the Taliban, the violence began to diminish in many parts of the country, though the fighting remained fierce and tens of thousands of people were killed as the Taliban tried to exert control over the country. The Taliban were still engaged in a protracted and bloody civil war against the Northern Alliance when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001. During the initial invasion, very few U.S. troops were actually on the ground. The United States used the Northern Alliance as the main ground-force element, along with U.S. air power and special operations forces, and was able to remove the Taliban from power in short order. It is important to remember that the Taliban was never really defeated on the battlefield. Once they realized that they were no match for U.S. air power in a conventional war, they declined battle and faded away to launch their insurgency.
Today, the forces collectively referred to as the Taliban in Afghanistan are not all part of one hierarchical organization under the leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar. Although Mullah Omar is the dominant force and is without peer among Afghan insurgent leaders, there are a number of local and regional militant commanders who are fighting against the U.S. occupation beside the Taliban and who have post-U.S. occupation interests that diverge from those of the Taliban. Such groups are opportunists rather than hardcore Taliban and they might fight against Mullah Omar’s Taliban if he and his militants come to power in Kabul, especially if an outside power manipulates, funds and arms them — and outside powers will certainly be seeking to do so. The United States has tried to peel away the more independent factions from the wider Taliban "movement" but has had little success, mainly because the faction leaders see that the United States is going to disengage and that the Taliban will be a force to be reckoned with in the aftermath.
Once U.S. and ISAF forces withdraw from Afghanistan, then, it is quite likely that Afghanistan will again fall into a period of civil war, as the Taliban attempt to defeat the Karzai government, as the United States tries to support it and as other outside powers such as Pakistan, Russia and Iran try to gain influence through their proxies in the country.
The only thing that can really prevent this civil war from occurring is a total defeat of the Taliban and other militants in the country or some sort of political settlement. With the sheer size of the Taliban and its many factions, and the fact that many factions are receiving shelter and support from patrons in Pakistan and Iran, it is simply not possible for the U.S. military to completely destroy them before the Americans begin to withdraw next summer. This will result in a tremendous amount of pressure on the Americans to find a political solution to the problem. At this time, the Taliban simply don’t feel pressured to come to the negotiating table — especially with the U.S. drawdown in sight.
And even if a political settlement is somehow reached, not everyone will be pleased with it. Certainly, the outside manipulation in Afghanistan will continue, as will the fighting, as it has for centuries.
Stewart’s analysis indicates that our strategy in Afghanistan is doomed to fail because that country is so dissimilar from Iraq. Here is the last section of his Stratfor Global Intelligence report:
It may seem counterintuitive, but following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the casualties from militancy in the country declined considerably. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies Armed Conflict Database, the fatalities due to armed conflict in Afghanistan fell from an estimated 10,000 a year prior to the invasion to 4,000 in 2002 and 1,000 by 2004. Even as the Taliban began to regroup in 2005 and the number of fatalities began to move upward, by 2009 (the last year for which the institute offers data) the total was only 7,140, still well-under the pre-invasion death tolls (though admittedly far greater than at the ebb of the insurgency in 2004).
Still, even with death tolls rising, the U.S. invasion has not produced anywhere near the estimated 1 million deaths that resulted during the Soviet occupation. The Soviets and their Afghan allies were not concerned about conducting a hearts-and-minds campaign. Indeed, their efforts were more akin to a scorched-earth strategy complete with attacks directed against the population. This strategy also resulted in millions of refugees fleeing Afghanistan for Pakistan and Iran and badly disrupted the tribal structure in much of Afghanistan. This massive disruption of the societal structure helped lead to a state of widespread anarchy that later led many Afghans to see the Taliban as saviors.
Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, the communist government in Kabul was able to survive for three more years, backed heavily with Soviet arms, but these years were again marked by heavy casualties. When the communist government fell in 1992, the warlords who had opposed the government attempted to form a power-sharing agreement to govern Afghanistan, but all the factions could not reach a consensus and another civil war broke out, this time among the various anti-communist Afghan warlords vying for control of the country. During this period, Kabul was repeatedly shelled and the bloodshed continued. Neither the Soviet departure nor the fall of the communist regime ended the carnage.
With the rise of the Taliban, the violence began to diminish in many parts of the country, though the fighting remained fierce and tens of thousands of people were killed as the Taliban tried to exert control over the country. The Taliban were still engaged in a protracted and bloody civil war against the Northern Alliance when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001. During the initial invasion, very few U.S. troops were actually on the ground. The United States used the Northern Alliance as the main ground-force element, along with U.S. air power and special operations forces, and was able to remove the Taliban from power in short order. It is important to remember that the Taliban was never really defeated on the battlefield. Once they realized that they were no match for U.S. air power in a conventional war, they declined battle and faded away to launch their insurgency.
Today, the forces collectively referred to as the Taliban in Afghanistan are not all part of one hierarchical organization under the leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar. Although Mullah Omar is the dominant force and is without peer among Afghan insurgent leaders, there are a number of local and regional militant commanders who are fighting against the U.S. occupation beside the Taliban and who have post-U.S. occupation interests that diverge from those of the Taliban. Such groups are opportunists rather than hardcore Taliban and they might fight against Mullah Omar’s Taliban if he and his militants come to power in Kabul, especially if an outside power manipulates, funds and arms them — and outside powers will certainly be seeking to do so. The United States has tried to peel away the more independent factions from the wider Taliban "movement" but has had little success, mainly because the faction leaders see that the United States is going to disengage and that the Taliban will be a force to be reckoned with in the aftermath.
Once U.S. and ISAF forces withdraw from Afghanistan, then, it is quite likely that Afghanistan will again fall into a period of civil war, as the Taliban attempt to defeat the Karzai government, as the United States tries to support it and as other outside powers such as Pakistan, Russia and Iran try to gain influence through their proxies in the country.
The only thing that can really prevent this civil war from occurring is a total defeat of the Taliban and other militants in the country or some sort of political settlement. With the sheer size of the Taliban and its many factions, and the fact that many factions are receiving shelter and support from patrons in Pakistan and Iran, it is simply not possible for the U.S. military to completely destroy them before the Americans begin to withdraw next summer. This will result in a tremendous amount of pressure on the Americans to find a political solution to the problem. At this time, the Taliban simply don’t feel pressured to come to the negotiating table — especially with the U.S. drawdown in sight.
And even if a political settlement is somehow reached, not everyone will be pleased with it. Certainly, the outside manipulation in Afghanistan will continue, as will the fighting, as it has for centuries.
FOUR GREAT RELIGIOUS TRUTHS
During these serious and trying times, people of all faiths should remember these four great religious truths:
1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.
2. Jews do not recognize Christ as the Messiah.
3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian world.
4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters or the Liquor Store.
1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.
2. Jews do not recognize Christ as the Messiah.
3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian world.
4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters or the Liquor Store.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
IT'S THE COP WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN BANNED
If I had been the mall manager, I would have banned the cop from the mall for 10 years.
LATASHA CONNOR: CINNABON ENTHUSIASM GETS 10-YEAR BAN FROM MALL
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 1, 2010
Fox 26 has the story of Latasha Connor, who likes movies at Deerbrook Mall, and Cinnabons at Deerbrook Mall.
Who doesn't?
Connor might have been too enthusiastic about her Cinnabon love, though -- she got a citation from a [city of] Humble cop and was banned from the mall for 10 years. Her crime? "Failure to produce ID," according to the citation.
That is some harsh mall-copping right there.
Connor says she was going to a movie at Deerbrook and stopped to get a Cinnabon. After the movie, the Cinnabon urge hit again.
She went to the food court and said "Hey Marquise, what's going on? Time for another Cinnabon. I'm back." (WHen you know your Cinnabon dealer by his first name....)
She says a Humble cop approached her and said she was too loud and asked for ID. She didn't have any but gave her name and address and date of birth.
It took 15 minutes or so, she said, until a mall cop could be summoned, and that's when she got the citation which announced she was banned from the mall for 10 years.
Mall cops!! FEEL THEIR POWER!!!
After Fox contacted the mall, management rescinded the banning, which is awfully nice of them.
LATASHA CONNOR: CINNABON ENTHUSIASM GETS 10-YEAR BAN FROM MALL
By Richard Connelly
Houston Press Hair Balls
September 1, 2010
Fox 26 has the story of Latasha Connor, who likes movies at Deerbrook Mall, and Cinnabons at Deerbrook Mall.
Who doesn't?
Connor might have been too enthusiastic about her Cinnabon love, though -- she got a citation from a [city of] Humble cop and was banned from the mall for 10 years. Her crime? "Failure to produce ID," according to the citation.
That is some harsh mall-copping right there.
Connor says she was going to a movie at Deerbrook and stopped to get a Cinnabon. After the movie, the Cinnabon urge hit again.
She went to the food court and said "Hey Marquise, what's going on? Time for another Cinnabon. I'm back." (WHen you know your Cinnabon dealer by his first name....)
She says a Humble cop approached her and said she was too loud and asked for ID. She didn't have any but gave her name and address and date of birth.
It took 15 minutes or so, she said, until a mall cop could be summoned, and that's when she got the citation which announced she was banned from the mall for 10 years.
Mall cops!! FEEL THEIR POWER!!!
After Fox contacted the mall, management rescinded the banning, which is awfully nice of them.
NO BLESSING FOR THE DUCK
JOSEPH ROUSE: PRIEST THREATENS TO BOMB AFLAC OVER CUSTOMER SERVICE
By Craig Malisow
Houston Press Hair Balls
August 31, 2010
It's always refreshing to read about a priest who's not accused of diddling little boys, so it was a treat to learn that retired Houston priest John Rouse is only accused of...threatening to bomb an insurance company if it didn't process his claim fast enough.
Rouse pleaded not guilty in a Georgia federal court last week; according to the indictment, Rouse's May 24 call to Aflac (that supplemental insurance company whose mascot is an accident-prone, possibly feeble-minded duck) "contained a threat to injure; specifically, the defendant threatened to bring a shotgun or a bomb to [the customer service rep's] place of business because he was dissatisfied with the service he was receiving."
But really, who hasn't said such things in the course of a business call?
According to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, an FBI officer's affidavit states that the retired Catholic priest allegedly "made a bomb threat and suggested he'd fly a plane" into Aflac's offices. When the customer representative alerted a supervisor, Rouse allegedly reached down deeper into his inner Rambo and warned he "would come packing" if Aflac didn't process his claim within a day. Rouse was arrested at home three days later.
We don't know why Rouse simply wouldn't have said he's tight with the Heavenly Father and whatnot, but maybe he just didn't want to play the catechism card.
Rouse's Houston attorney, Douglas McNabb, told Hair Balls he hadn't yet listened to a recording of the call but is prepared to go to trial. (No trial date has been set). Rouse is free on bond; if convicted, he faces a five-year maximum in prison.
"At this point, it's very, very early in the process," McNabb said.
We left a message for Rouse but haven't heard back. Of course, if these allegations are true, that's probably good for our sake.
By Craig Malisow
Houston Press Hair Balls
August 31, 2010
It's always refreshing to read about a priest who's not accused of diddling little boys, so it was a treat to learn that retired Houston priest John Rouse is only accused of...threatening to bomb an insurance company if it didn't process his claim fast enough.
Rouse pleaded not guilty in a Georgia federal court last week; according to the indictment, Rouse's May 24 call to Aflac (that supplemental insurance company whose mascot is an accident-prone, possibly feeble-minded duck) "contained a threat to injure; specifically, the defendant threatened to bring a shotgun or a bomb to [the customer service rep's] place of business because he was dissatisfied with the service he was receiving."
But really, who hasn't said such things in the course of a business call?
According to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, an FBI officer's affidavit states that the retired Catholic priest allegedly "made a bomb threat and suggested he'd fly a plane" into Aflac's offices. When the customer representative alerted a supervisor, Rouse allegedly reached down deeper into his inner Rambo and warned he "would come packing" if Aflac didn't process his claim within a day. Rouse was arrested at home three days later.
We don't know why Rouse simply wouldn't have said he's tight with the Heavenly Father and whatnot, but maybe he just didn't want to play the catechism card.
Rouse's Houston attorney, Douglas McNabb, told Hair Balls he hadn't yet listened to a recording of the call but is prepared to go to trial. (No trial date has been set). Rouse is free on bond; if convicted, he faces a five-year maximum in prison.
"At this point, it's very, very early in the process," McNabb said.
We left a message for Rouse but haven't heard back. Of course, if these allegations are true, that's probably good for our sake.
KOOKFORNIA DOCTOR DIES WHILE IN HEAT
She was either in heat or her lover must have had a monstrous dick, or both.
BODY OF DOCTOR FOUND INSIDE CHIMNEY AFTER SHE TRIED TO BREAK INTO BOYFRIEND’S HOME
Mail Online
September 1, 2010
A doctor involved in an on-off relationship has died after apparently trying to force her way into her boyfriend's home by sliding down the chimney.
Dr Jacquelyn Kotarac, 49, first tried to get into the house with a shovel, then climbed a ladder to the roof, removed the chimney cap and slid feet first down the flue.
Her decomposing body was found there three days later, Bakersfield police sergeant Mary DeGeare confirmed.
Authorities said that while she was trying to break in, the man she was in a relationship with escaped unnoticed from another exit 'to avoid a confrontation'.
William Moodie, 58, described their relationship as 'on-again, off-again', but refused to comment on the circumstances surrounding her death.
He said: 'She made an unbelievable error in judgement and nobody understands why, and unfortunately she's passed away.
'She had her issues - she had her demons - but I never lost my respect for her.'
Mr Moodie, who lives in Bakersfield, California and runs an engineering consulting firm, said Dr Kotarac often provided service and medication free of charge to her patients.
Dr Kotarac apparently died in the chimney, but her body was not discovered until a house-sitter noticed a smell and fluids coming from the fireplace on Saturday.
The house-sitter and her son investigated with a torch and found Dr Kotarac's body wedged around 2ft above the interior fireplace opening.
Firefighters spent five hours dismantling the chimney and flue from outside the home to extract her body.
Officials said her office staff reported her missing two days before when she failed to show up for work. Her car and belongings remained near the Mr Moodie's house.
A cause of death has not been determined. Foul play is not suspected, although investigators are treating it as suspicious.
BODY OF DOCTOR FOUND INSIDE CHIMNEY AFTER SHE TRIED TO BREAK INTO BOYFRIEND’S HOME
Mail Online
September 1, 2010
A doctor involved in an on-off relationship has died after apparently trying to force her way into her boyfriend's home by sliding down the chimney.
Dr Jacquelyn Kotarac, 49, first tried to get into the house with a shovel, then climbed a ladder to the roof, removed the chimney cap and slid feet first down the flue.
Her decomposing body was found there three days later, Bakersfield police sergeant Mary DeGeare confirmed.
Authorities said that while she was trying to break in, the man she was in a relationship with escaped unnoticed from another exit 'to avoid a confrontation'.
William Moodie, 58, described their relationship as 'on-again, off-again', but refused to comment on the circumstances surrounding her death.
He said: 'She made an unbelievable error in judgement and nobody understands why, and unfortunately she's passed away.
'She had her issues - she had her demons - but I never lost my respect for her.'
Mr Moodie, who lives in Bakersfield, California and runs an engineering consulting firm, said Dr Kotarac often provided service and medication free of charge to her patients.
Dr Kotarac apparently died in the chimney, but her body was not discovered until a house-sitter noticed a smell and fluids coming from the fireplace on Saturday.
The house-sitter and her son investigated with a torch and found Dr Kotarac's body wedged around 2ft above the interior fireplace opening.
Firefighters spent five hours dismantling the chimney and flue from outside the home to extract her body.
Officials said her office staff reported her missing two days before when she failed to show up for work. Her car and belongings remained near the Mr Moodie's house.
A cause of death has not been determined. Foul play is not suspected, although investigators are treating it as suspicious.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
TERRORIST ARRESTED FOR UNLEASHING WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION AGAINST THE GREAT SATAN
BROKEN NEWS
In a joint news conference with FBI Director Robert Mueller, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the arrest of Ahmed Muhammad Mustafa al Ibaba of Chicago for a terrorist attack against the United States. After a 14-month FBI investigation, al Ibaba stands charged with unleashing biological weapons of mass destruction, to wit: bedbug bombs.
al Ibaba, 43, who was born Willie Washington Smith, was a long-time member of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s church before he converted to Islam three years ago. 16 months ago he returned to the U.S. after spending a year in Pakistan where he admittedly joined up with Al-Qaeda.
FBI agents searched al Ibaba’s home and were seen removing several boxes of evidence. Director Mueller announced that al Ibaba’s laptop computer contained personal instructions from Osama bin Laden to unleash a ‘bedbug infestation against the Great Satan.’ Mueller noted that the 'Bedbug Bomber' began his terrorist attack in New York shortly after his return from Pakistan. al Ibaba then went on to set off more bedbug bombs in Philadelphia, Detroit and other major cities across the country.
Holder and Mueller expressed considerable concern that the infestation of bedbugs will be spread across the country by unsuspecting travelers. They went on to assure the public that the full weight and force of the U.S. government will be brought to bear down on the bedbugs. Holder and Mueller also promised that Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda would pay dearly for unleashing these biological weapons of mass destruction on our cities.
When asked why Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was not present for the news conference and how DHS failed to detect the bedbug bombs when al Ibaba reentered the country, both replied "No comment." And when asked if there might be other Al-Qaeda bedbug bombers out there, Holder and Mueller would only say that the investigation was ongoing.
When arrested, Ahmed Muhammad Mustafa al Ibaba shouted ‘Allah Akbar, death to the Great Satan’ over and over again until FBI agent Abe Goldberg informed him of his right to remain silent and smacked him upside the head with a piece of two-by-four. Goldberg was then heard to utter, 'FBI Akbar!'
In a joint news conference with FBI Director Robert Mueller, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the arrest of Ahmed Muhammad Mustafa al Ibaba of Chicago for a terrorist attack against the United States. After a 14-month FBI investigation, al Ibaba stands charged with unleashing biological weapons of mass destruction, to wit: bedbug bombs.
al Ibaba, 43, who was born Willie Washington Smith, was a long-time member of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s church before he converted to Islam three years ago. 16 months ago he returned to the U.S. after spending a year in Pakistan where he admittedly joined up with Al-Qaeda.
FBI agents searched al Ibaba’s home and were seen removing several boxes of evidence. Director Mueller announced that al Ibaba’s laptop computer contained personal instructions from Osama bin Laden to unleash a ‘bedbug infestation against the Great Satan.’ Mueller noted that the 'Bedbug Bomber' began his terrorist attack in New York shortly after his return from Pakistan. al Ibaba then went on to set off more bedbug bombs in Philadelphia, Detroit and other major cities across the country.
Holder and Mueller expressed considerable concern that the infestation of bedbugs will be spread across the country by unsuspecting travelers. They went on to assure the public that the full weight and force of the U.S. government will be brought to bear down on the bedbugs. Holder and Mueller also promised that Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda would pay dearly for unleashing these biological weapons of mass destruction on our cities.
When asked why Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was not present for the news conference and how DHS failed to detect the bedbug bombs when al Ibaba reentered the country, both replied "No comment." And when asked if there might be other Al-Qaeda bedbug bombers out there, Holder and Mueller would only say that the investigation was ongoing.
When arrested, Ahmed Muhammad Mustafa al Ibaba shouted ‘Allah Akbar, death to the Great Satan’ over and over again until FBI agent Abe Goldberg informed him of his right to remain silent and smacked him upside the head with a piece of two-by-four. Goldberg was then heard to utter, 'FBI Akbar!'
HE MUST HAVE THOUGHT WENDY'S BURGERS WERE SHITTY
GREGORY CHAMBERS: POPPED FOR SMEARING POOP ON SEAWALL BURGER JOINT
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
August 31, 2010
Here's the poop on a low-down crime, a mystery worthy of Scooby Poo...
Just who was that incontinent miscreant who has spent much of this long hot summer by creeping down to the Wendy's on Galveston's Seawall in the wee hours and smearing human crap all over the doors and windows?
And what would possess someone to do such a thing?
Employees on the morning shift had arrived to find their restaurant soiled over and over again. Finally, they persuaded the police to stake the place out.
Two plainclothes cops in an unmarked car arrived at 3 a.m. yesterday, anticipating a long boring night ahead. What they found instead was another crime scene -- the doody-vandal had already struck!
Garbage had been shoveled out of all the dumpsters and strewn all over the parking lot. And no, that was not the remnants of a Frosty streaking the windows -- the loose-boweled lowlife had struck again.
At first, the cops believed they were too late. The dirty deed had already been done, after all, but they soon came upon a bicycle hidden in the shadows. And right after that, they found the bike's owner -- 46-year-old Gregory Allen Chambers -- lurking in the shadows too.
Chambers is a part-time employee of the Wendy's in question, and his sister is a manager there, so there's your likely motive: sibling rivalry.
Police say he admitted to the smear campaign, and he has been charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief. His prior record includes arrests for deadly conduct, domestic violence, terroristic threats, trespassing and drugs.
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
August 31, 2010
Here's the poop on a low-down crime, a mystery worthy of Scooby Poo...
Just who was that incontinent miscreant who has spent much of this long hot summer by creeping down to the Wendy's on Galveston's Seawall in the wee hours and smearing human crap all over the doors and windows?
And what would possess someone to do such a thing?
Employees on the morning shift had arrived to find their restaurant soiled over and over again. Finally, they persuaded the police to stake the place out.
Two plainclothes cops in an unmarked car arrived at 3 a.m. yesterday, anticipating a long boring night ahead. What they found instead was another crime scene -- the doody-vandal had already struck!
Garbage had been shoveled out of all the dumpsters and strewn all over the parking lot. And no, that was not the remnants of a Frosty streaking the windows -- the loose-boweled lowlife had struck again.
At first, the cops believed they were too late. The dirty deed had already been done, after all, but they soon came upon a bicycle hidden in the shadows. And right after that, they found the bike's owner -- 46-year-old Gregory Allen Chambers -- lurking in the shadows too.
Chambers is a part-time employee of the Wendy's in question, and his sister is a manager there, so there's your likely motive: sibling rivalry.
Police say he admitted to the smear campaign, and he has been charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief. His prior record includes arrests for deadly conduct, domestic violence, terroristic threats, trespassing and drugs.
PAY ME OR YOU'LL SUFFER A BLACK PLAGUE
The Europeans have long condemned the U.S. for its discrimination against blacks. That’s easy to do when you hardly have any blacks living in your midst. If a lot of them do settle on the continent you will see the Europeans climb off their high horses pronto to discriminate against blacks as much as we ever did. A black plague on top of an Islamic plague? Oh shit!
‘PAY ME £4 BILLION A YEAR AND I’LL STOP EUROPE FROM TRUNING BLACK’: COL. GADDAFI DEMANDS EU CASH TO STOP IMMIGRATION VIA LIBYA
by Nick Pisa
Mail Online
August 31, 2010
Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is demanding £4.1billion a year from the EU to stop illegal immigration which 'threatens to turn Europe black'.
Col Gaddafi made the demand as he ended his controversial two-day visit to Italy where he caused outrage in the Catholic church by hosting two 'convert to Islam parties'.
Today furious Italian MPs slammed his demands - made in his farewell speech - for cash to stop immigration and compared them to a 'Mafia extortion racket'.
In the speech Gaddafi, 67, told his audience in Rome: 'Italy needs to convince her European allies to accept this Libyan proposal - five billion euro to Libya to stop illegal immigration.
'Europe runs the risk of turning black from illegal immigration, it could turn into Africa.
'We need support from the European Union to stop this army trying to get across from Libya, which is their entry point.
'At the moment there is a dangerous level of immigration from Africa into Europe and we don't know what will happen.
'What will be the reaction of the white Christian Europeans to this mass of hungry, uneducated Africans?
'We don't know if Europe will remain an advanced and cohesive continent or if it will be destroyed by this barbarian invasion. We have to imagine that this could happen but before it does we need to work together.'
‘PAY ME £4 BILLION A YEAR AND I’LL STOP EUROPE FROM TRUNING BLACK’: COL. GADDAFI DEMANDS EU CASH TO STOP IMMIGRATION VIA LIBYA
by Nick Pisa
Mail Online
August 31, 2010
Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is demanding £4.1billion a year from the EU to stop illegal immigration which 'threatens to turn Europe black'.
Col Gaddafi made the demand as he ended his controversial two-day visit to Italy where he caused outrage in the Catholic church by hosting two 'convert to Islam parties'.
Today furious Italian MPs slammed his demands - made in his farewell speech - for cash to stop immigration and compared them to a 'Mafia extortion racket'.
In the speech Gaddafi, 67, told his audience in Rome: 'Italy needs to convince her European allies to accept this Libyan proposal - five billion euro to Libya to stop illegal immigration.
'Europe runs the risk of turning black from illegal immigration, it could turn into Africa.
'We need support from the European Union to stop this army trying to get across from Libya, which is their entry point.
'At the moment there is a dangerous level of immigration from Africa into Europe and we don't know what will happen.
'What will be the reaction of the white Christian Europeans to this mass of hungry, uneducated Africans?
'We don't know if Europe will remain an advanced and cohesive continent or if it will be destroyed by this barbarian invasion. We have to imagine that this could happen but before it does we need to work together.'
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